Records Preserved in the Italian State Archives: A Guide for Researchers
If you canât find the records you need online (civil records, military files, censuses), you can consult the historical collections preserved by the relevant Italian State Archives to uncover additional information about the documents they hold and how to access them.
Itâs possible to request copies of military records, census data, or civil certificates from the State Archives if these documents are not available online.
We explain how to request Italian birth or marriage records in another post.
1 â Find out what types of records are held by the State Archives
Before submitting a request, itâs advisable to look into the types of collections held by the State Archives. To avoid unsuccessful searches, it helps to find out:
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which types of records the archives preserve (military conscription lists, military rolls, censuses, civil registrations, etc.) and the time periods they cover;
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whether the records for the province you are researching are stored in that provinceâs State Archive or in the archive of a different province.
Exploring the archives via Portale Antenati
One of the best tools to discover what types of records are preserved and which time periods they cover is the Portale Antenati, particularly the âBrowse the Archivesâ section.
This section includes a list of Italian State Archives. By clicking on the map markers, a small window opens with the message âDiscover the archive.â
You can also scroll down to the list below the map and click directly on the archive of interest.
Youâll then access a detailed description of the documents held by that archive, including civil, military, and census records, the time periods they cover, the digitization status of the collections, and the contact details of the archive.
If records from a certain province are held in a different provinceâs archive, this is noted in the description. For example, the 1839â1870 conscription lists from Rimini are held in the State Archive of Bologna.
While the Antenati Portal may not contain every single Italian civil registry book.
2 â Requesting a copy of the document from the relevant State Archive
If youâve identified a specific collection that hasnât yet been digitized, you can contact the archive to request a copy.
Itâs very important to provide precise information in your request â otherwise, it will be much more difficult for staff to carry out the search.
On our website, we provide sample letters and email templates with instructions on how to contact the archives and request your documents.