Vatican Secret Archives
These coffers contain important government documents, letters, accounts and many other titles that the Catholic Church has collected and stored for millennia.
The Vatican’s secret archives are considered one of the most inaccessible objects in the world, although it has not always been so. In 1881, Pope Leo XIII allowed several researchers to study the repository’s documents for scientific purposes.
At that time, only a highly qualified scholar could qualify to attend this Catholic institution. Even the most privileged visitors were required to obey rules that governed what specifically visitors study in the Vatican archives.