La Banca Cattolica del Veneto e il suo patrimonio archivistico

“Alongside the archives of the main banking institutions, open to the public for some time, it is now possible to access the legacy – almost entirely intact – of a particularly vibrant local lending institution, founded to serve the ‘determined and honest people’ of the Veneto region, which grew through troubled times to take on a multi-regional dimension.

Dedicated to the poor over even its small and medium-sized agricultural and artisan clients, Banca Cattolica del Veneto mirrored the changing needs of society, enabling it to develop innovative services such as those offered to the people who left the Veneto region to emigrate around the world.

The archives are of national importance since they provide a detailed look at the life of a ‘Catholic’ bank which always included social and charity issues on its articles of association; the extensive correspondence with Catholic federations and credit institutions dating from the 1920s and 1930s provides ample evidence of the central institutional structures and relations between the Catholic banks. (…)

The photographs provide a clear idea of the nature of this “collective” bank, firmly rooted in the local area and with a sense of belonging to its men and women.”

(From the preface by Professor Giovanni Bazoli)