Massimo Listri’sThe World’s Most Beautiful Librariesis a visual tour of the world’s most spectacular temples devoted to the written word.
Many modern public depository library are far from beautiful . The Bible within them hold expansive , challenging existence , but those volumes are often lay in on utilitarian metal shelf that do n’t lend much aesthetical time value . But historically , libraries have been work up as grand , palatial temples of book . “ Libraries were and remain statement of prestige as well as aesthetic and architectural sophistication,”librarianand scholar Georg Ruppelt write in an essay forThe World ’s Most Beautiful Libraries , anew bookof images by Italian photographMassimo Listri . “ These houses of knowledge have inspired secular and ghostlike sanction since the former Modern Era to pay picky attending to their design and décor . ” Below are seven of the most eye - catching libraries from the book .
1. BIBLIOTECA CLASSENSE // RAVENNA, ITALY
The Biblioteca Classense ’s rootage can be traced back to an abbey established near Ravenna , Italy , in the 11th century . The master hall was build in the early 1700s , and while it ’s now a public depository library , its 800,000 - oeuvre appeal still include 350 chivalric codex and 800 incunabula from its early chronicle .
2. RIJKSMUSEUM RESEARCH LIBRARY // AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam ’s Rijksmuseum was founded as a national art museum in the other 19th century . The research library , housed in a construction erected in 1885 by Dutch designer Pierre Cuypers , holds around 450,000 books .
3. BIBLIOTECA DO CONVENTO DE MAFRA // MAFRA, PORTUGAL
The Biblioteca do Convento de Mafra is situate in Portugal ’s internal palace in Lisbon . Now a museum , the royal library was founded in 1717 and now holds 36,000 volume .
4. REAL GABINETE PORTUGUÊS DE LEITURA // RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
build in the eighties , the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura ( Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading ) holds more than 350,000 volumes dating back to the sixteenth century — the declamatory collection of Portuguese works outdoors of Portugal .
5. STRAHOVSKÁ KNIHOVNA; PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
The Strahovská Knihovna ( Strahov Library ) is a monastic depository library in Prague founded in 1143 . Parts of the current building date back to the 1600s .
6. BIBLIOTHÈQUE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE // PARIS
The Bibliothèque Sainte - Geneviève is now a university library turn back 2 million property , but it got its start as a monastic library dating back to the Middle Ages . The building was erected in the mid-19th C , but some of the assembling can be follow back to the 1100s .
7. STIFTSBIBLIOTHEK SANKT GALLEN // ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND
The Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen was founded in 612 as a monastic library . The collection survived a tenth century fire that destroyed the rest of the Abbey of St. Gall , and is now one of the oldest libraries in the creation . The 170,000 volumes that currently make up the collection are housed in an eighteenth century construction design by Austrian designer Peter Thumb . It became a World Heritage Site in 1983 and now serves as a public reference depository library .
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