Biblioteca Civica Internazionale

Along the Via Romana, among the villas and gardens of English Bordighera, a stone building with a semicircular six-columned portico and a century-old wisteria on its façade houses the Biblioteca Civica Internazionale. It was founded for the British residents who spent the winter in the town, and its collections still speak several languages: Italian, English, French and German.

It is a public library run by the town council and open to everyone: you can walk in freely to read, study or browse the shelves, and even just walking past it is one of the most photographed views on the Via Romana, especially in spring, when the wisteria is in bloom.

A library for the English community

In the second half of the 19th century Bordighera was one of the favourite destinations of the British in search of the Riviera’s mild climate. Alongside the hotels, the villas and the church of All Saints, now the former Anglican church, the community also wanted its own library: the first, founded around 1880, was housed in the rooms of the Anglican church itself.

The collection grew quickly, and in 1910 the English community decided to build a dedicated home on the Via Romana.

As the Second World War approached and the British left Bordighera, the library was bought by the town. In 1985 it was restored by the Genoese architect Gianfranco Franchini, known for designing the Centre Pompidou in Paris with Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

What to see

The façade with the portico and the wisteria

The building is in stone, in the Victorian style of the English buildings of the period. Its most recognisable feature is the semicircular portico supported by six columns in front of the entrance, climbed by a wisteria that is now a hundred years old. Between April and May the purple blossom wraps around the façade: it is the best time to see it, together with the wisteria at the Museo Bicknell, a little further along the same street.

Collections in four languages

The name “Internazionale” comes from its collections: tens of thousands of volumes in Italian and about 20,000 in English, as well as books in French and German. The English collection, with the books gathered by the British community between the 19th and 20th centuries, is a rare record of the life of the foreign colony on the Riviera, and has its own catalogue that can be consulted.

Photographs of Victorian Bordighera

The library also holds a collection of about 950 digitised historical photographs, with images of Bordighera at the end of the 19th century: the villas, hotels, gardens and seafront of the era when the town became an international resort.

Today: reading, study and lending

Today the Biblioteca Civica Internazionale is the town’s public library. It offers open shelves, reading and study rooms, a children’s section, local and inter-library loans and help with bibliographic research. It also organises guided tours by appointment and hosts book presentations and talks during the year.

Services are free, apart from photocopies. To borrow books you just need to register at the information desk with a valid identity document: you can take out up to three books for thirty days (fifteen for new releases), and there is an outdoor return box available 24 hours a day.

Opening hours

Tips for your visit

• When to go: opening times change between winter and summer (you will find the table above); in summer it is only open in the mornings.
• The right photo: the façade with the wisteria is at its best between April and May, in the morning light.
• Guided tours: if you are interested in the history of the building or the English collection, book a guided tour by contacting the library.
• Accessibility: according to the town council, the building is also accessible to people with reduced mobility.
• Combine it with: the Museo Bicknell, a few steps along the same street, Villa Etelinda, the former Anglican church and the Waldensian Church: together they tell the story of English Bordighera. You will find them all on the itinerary Among villas and gardens.

Frequently asked questions