At the beginning of the 17th century Francesco Branciforte and his wife Lady Joanna of Austria had an impressive library built next to their palace, containing thousands of volumes, artwork, world maps and other curious objects. It was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 and traces of it were lost because it was never rebuilt after the disaster.
Proof of its existence is only shown by some deeds dated from 1681: the great hall contained three levels of balconies and was very spacious.
The documents describe a length of around forty metres, and with its nine metres of height it must have been a welcoming place to study.
