In 2022, the Associazione Castello di Thiene ETS was created in order to preserve, share, and protect the Castle’s archives, restricted since 1972 and declared an item of regional interest in 2006 due to its considerable collection of parchments and papers.
Name:
Porto Colleoni Thiene private archive.
Chronological Details:
XI-XX centuries
System and Description:
The Archive, housed in the Castle of Thiene, contains documents from the Porto, Colleoni, Capra, and Thiene families, along with numerous fragments from various archives related to properties acquired through dowries or testamentary bequests. The archival collection, partially organized during the 18th and 19th centuries, has recently undergone new analysis, restoration, reorganization, and digital cataloging, thanks to contributions from the Cariverona Foundation (Porto fund, 2018-2021), the Veneto Region (Drawings fund, 2021; Caterina Roncalli Porto Colleoni fund, 2024), and the Ministry of Culture - General Directorate of Archives (Capra fund, 2023-2024, and Colleoni fund, currently in progress), all aimed at the study, preservation, and promotion of the archives.
The Bertoliana Library has contributed to the scientific coordination of the digital cataloging process in collaboration with the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendency of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, supporting the Castle of Thiene and the Bertoliana Library from the beginning of the work on noble family archives. Some of the documentation is accompanied by cadastral records.
Among the many types of documents are a number of notary acts and other parchments, Papal and Ducal bulls, imperial privileges, letters, registers, books, etc. (originals and copies), written between the first half of the XI century through to the middle of the XX century. To this is also a large body of drawings, to date over 545 including over 450 historical maps and hand-drawn representations from before 1866, with a particular focus on landscape, geography and cityscapes.
Research Tools:
The digital catalogue of the archives can be freely accessed online through the Portale degli archivi della Biblioteca Bertoliana, under the Porto Colleoni Thiene Archive section.
Additional period documentation:
The Porto and Capra archives and the Drawings assets are of service to the land registry, and are digitalised in part.
Consultation:
Access to consult the documents is possible by booking an appointment.
To book a visit for document consultation, please contact
In 2024, the Association received a grant from the Ministry of Culture – Directorate General of Archives for the work of organizing and inventorying the Capra archive held in the Castle.
