State Archives of Trapani

The Archivio di Stato di Trapani was established in 1843 under the Bourbon administration of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies as a provincial archive entrusted with the custody of judicial and governmental records. Its original headquarters were located in the Palazzo dell’Intendenza, the seat of provincial authority, corresponding to the site of the present-day Prefecture of Trapani. Following Italian unification, the archive was transferred in 1862 to the former convent of San Rocco in the historic centre of the city (now the Museum of Contemporary Art San Rocco). This building later suffered heavy damage during aerial bombardments in the Second World War, resulting in the destruction of part of the archival holdings and the temporary dispersal of surviving materials across several locations in Trapani. ==Architecture==

The former convent of Sant’Anna is a historic religious complex located along the line of the city’s early modern fortifications near the Bastione Sant’Anna. The complex follows a cloistered layout typical of monastic architecture in western Sicily, with enclosed courtyards and thick masonry walls well suited to archival storage and conservation functions. Adaptation of the complex for archival use prioritised the reuse of existing spaces rather than radical architectural transformation. Restoration and conversion works carried out from 2011 onward focused on structural consolidation, environmental control and accessibility, while maintaining the historic layout of the convent. ==Holdings==

Despite losses suffered during the Second World War, the Archivio di Stato di Trapani preserves an extensive body of documentation relating to the history of the city and its territory from the late medieval period onward. Its collections include judicial, notarial, administrative, and ecclesiastical records, along with specialised reference materials supporting archival research, which constitute essential sources for the study of Trapani’s urban, social, and institutional development. ==References==