The Alain Daniélou Study Centre was founded on the death of Alain Daniélou in 1994 by the Swiss Foundation set up by him in 1970.
Its 5-hectare (about 12 acre) estate in the countryside 30 km outside Rome, close to the small town of Zagarolo, includes 5 independent houses, the largest of which being over 800 sq m (8600 sq ft), with sitting and dining spaces and six small guest apartments. The building also contains a considerable part of Alain Daniélou’s archives, a large photographic archive, and a library. The Foundation has collaborated with UNESCO, the International Music Council (NGO), Casa Asia of Barcelona, the Cini Foundation in Venice, the Musée pour la Photographie in Lausanne, Berlin’s Ethnographic Museum, and many other organisations.
The layout of the house is so labyrinthine – reflecting the official name of the hill on which it stands – that it was early on decided to give each apartment a noble sobriquet, without however claiming the luxury of princes or emperors.