The Badia Fiesolana repurposed: architectural works of the 1970s
When, in 1972, the member states of the European Communities signed the Convention establishing the European University Institute, the Badia became the physical setting for a broader ambition: the creation of a transnational campus dedicated to academic excellence. Between 1974 and 1976, significant works were undertaken to transform the former monastery into a continental university seat, including structural reinforcement, the adaptation of historic spaces, and the installation of a library and research facilities. The collection of images presented here document this process of metamorphosis, from the medieval façade to the newly designed interior spaces for study and teaching.
These renovation works form the backdrop to the EUI’s story in the 1970s, a decade during which the Institute moved from the subject of political negotiation to one of physical construction.
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Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
View from Badia Fiesolana. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 663_01
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
View of the building intended for the Library and the Teaching Staff. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 663_05
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
View of Badia Fiesolana from the south side. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 663_06
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Work on the presidency corridor. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 664_03.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
View of the scaffolding at the library building, in the foreground a worker with a wheelbarrow.
Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 664_06.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
View of three workers doing the preparation of the teaching staff floor.
Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 664_09.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Roof makeover. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 665_06.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Renovation work at the library. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 666_02.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Window restoration. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 666_06.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Renovation of the back facade of the church. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 667_01.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Floor reinforcement on the second floor of the library. Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 667_09.
Renovation work on the Badia Fiesolana from 1974 to 1976
Situation of the Council Chamber (former theater). Photo: Mach 7 Photostudio / HAEU, EUI 667_12.
Address by the President of the Republic, Giovanni Leone
Inauguration of the European University Institute (Badia Fiesolana), followed by a public meeting in Florence marking the tenth anniversary of the 1966 flood, 15 November 1976. Source: Archivio Storico della Presidenza della Repubblica (Quirinale).
The inauguration of the European University Institute
On 15 November 1976 the EUI’s new home at the Badia Fiesolana was officially inaugurated by Giovanni Leone, President of the Italian Republic. Entering the historic abbey, President Leone was welcomed by the Institute’s first President Max Kohnstamm along with senior representatives of the EUI contracting states, European institutions and the newly arrived faculty and researchers.
Four years after the Convention establishing the European University Institute was signed, the EUI had been made real: it had a campus, facilities, and a clear European mission. The nascent academic community was comprised of eight faculty members and 67 admitted researchers affiliated with its four departments of Economics, History, Law and Political and Social Sciences.
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A growing European forum
From its inauguration in 1976, the Institute’s academic identity and mission was bound up with intense engagement and concern for European integration. The relatively small size and close contact across the departments encouraged inter-disciplinary collaboration, such as an early project on ‘Problems of establishing a uniform electoral procedure for direct elections to the European Parliament” which was initiated by Law professor Christoph Sasse and developed with his faculty colleague Geoffry Hand and Political Science professor Jacques Georgel, and a number of researchers from both departments.
In October 1977, the Institute hosted its first major public event: the first Jean Monnet Conference, with a lecture delivered by Roy Jenkins, President of the European Commission. The following year, the EUI welcomed Emilio Colombo, then President of the European Parliament, who delivered the second Jean Monnet Lecture in 1978. Numerous European institutional actors would visit in subsequent years, fostering exchanges that strengthened the Institute’s intellectual and political relevance within the evolving European project.
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