Can I access records in a Diocesan Archive in Italy?

[CaptainCatholic]

Hello! I am traveling to Italy next year, and I was thinking of doing my own genealogical research in the Diocesan Archives of Troia, Foggia. I'd like to look through marriage processetti from the years 1715 to 1740.

However, I live in the United States, and I've never done any genealogical research in Italy. Would it be possible for someone like me — a non-Italian citizen who doesn’t speak Italian fluently — to make an appointment to access the Diocesan Archives in Troia for a day?

I have ample experience reading Italian marriage records online at Antenati and feel confident doing the research myself, but I’m unsure if visitors like me are "allowed" access? (I’m also wondering how reliable the appointments are, since I’d need to coordinate it with a planned trip and wouldn’t want to risk it being canceled at the last minute).

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much,
Tony

[rp76226]

Most towns have multiple old churches with one of them as the main church. When I detoured from my tour group and went for less than 3 hours to the small town of Racalmuto, Sicily, there were 4 churches - all next to each other. I went in the first church on the corner which was open, found a priest, made my request, and he assigned a parishoner helper to me. She took me to the third church where the records were kept and found a couple of 1700 records for my family and gave me copies, and then I had to leave to get back to my limo driver who took me back to my tour group. Fortunately, years later, I found a genealogist who was friends with the late, previous pastor and had been given a copy of all 15,000 parish records from him. He was able to trace back my family to a 1588 marriage. There's a shortage of priests in Italy - many cover 4 different parishes and are do not have the time to deal with parish record research. It may help to offer them a donation. Ron

[CaptainCatholic]

Most towns have multiple old churches with one of them as the main church. When I detoured from my tour group and went for less than 3 hours to the small town of Racalmuto, Sicily, there were 4 churches - all next to each other. I went in the first church on the corner which was open, found a priest, made my request, and he assigned a parishoner helper to me. She took me to the third church where the records were kept and found a couple of 1700 records for my family and gave me copies, and then I had to leave to get back to my limo driver who took me back to my tour group. Fortunately, years later, I found a genealogist who was friends with the late, previous pastor and had been given a copy of all 15,000 parish records from him. He was able to trace back my family to a 1588 marriage. There's a shortage of priests in Italy - many cover 4 different parishes and are do not have the time to deal with parish record research. It may help to offer them a donation. Ron

Hi Ron! Thanks so much for your message, I sincerely appreciate it! Oh wow - you were able to access records that very day without an appointment, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing!

I actually know precisely where the records I want to access are stored - at the Palazzo Vescovile (Bishop's Palace) located at Piazza Episcopio, 5, 71029 in Troia, Foggia.

I will have to contact them directly to ask about proper protocol, but I wasn't sure if anyone had any bad experiences of saying planning a trip around doing some family research in a diocesan archive, and then their appointment got canceled last minute, or they were told they actually weren't allowed in there to do research, etc.

Thanks for sharing your story!

[Italysearcher]

There is a post on my website PREPARING FOR A PARISH RECORD SEARCH you should find helpful.