Europe's Most Beautiful Libraries

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Library at Admont Abbey | © Jorge Ryan/Wikicommons

Visit some of the finest libraries and reading rooms to be found across Europe, in the continent’s cultural hotspots.  Explore baroque spaces or cutting-edge extensions from contemporary architects. 

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Biblioteca Joanina, Coimbra, Portugal, University Library

The library was built with the wealth that accompanied Portugal’s imperial endeavors, aka slave money...  The exquisitely carving, lacquering and design were all deliberately commissioned in order to make the best use of Portugal’s craftsmen, and much of the wood used was exotic to them, as it was exported from Brazil.  The library only houses books printed in the 19th century and earlier, making it a truly historical collection.  The University city of Coimbra is west of Lisbon/Portugal and worth a trip of several days.

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Admont Abbey Library

One of the largest monastery libraries in the world, the library at Admont Abbey, only a few kilometers from Liezen, not far from #9 highway in the province of Styria/Austria, is a baroque masterpiece.  The decoration is a combination of pure white with gold arrangements, matched by the contents of the library, set in Austria’s oldest monastery and containing an eclectic mixture of antique books.  Expansive windows allow the sun to flood the room.  Don't miss to visit the monastery garden, and approach it through a beautiful contemporary glass staircase.

photo: Wikipedia

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Old Library, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

The library’s primary treasure may be the Book of Kells, an extravagantly illustrated gospel book, which is held on permanent public display.  The Old Library also holds temporary exhibitions to show off some other specimens from the collection, which includes a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and the oldest harp in Ireland.  The library also contains a significant collection of Samuel Beckett’s letters.

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Austrian National Library, Hofburg Palace, Vienna

The Austrian National Library is housed in the Hofburg Palace, which was the historic seat of power for the Habsburg family.  Decorated in an explosion of Baroque color, the library is abundant in its decoration, with meters-tall bookshelves and luxurious ornaments. 

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photo: Wikipedia

Biblioteca Marciana, Venice

Even Andrea Palladio admitted that Jacopo Sansovino’s Biblioteca Marciana was the ‘richest and most ornate’ building assembled since antiquity.  The obligatory ceiling frescoes and niche paintings are present, some of them painted by classical Venetian artists Titian and Tintoretto.  Enter the library via a dramatic marble staircase, illuminated by golden decorations above, a great entrance to one of Venice’s finest buildings, located next to Piazza San Marco.

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Baroque Library Hall, Clementinum, Prague

Baroque Library Hall, one of the greatest examples of the titular architectural movement takes its name from the Spanish word ‘barroco’, which means a rough or misshapen pearl.  Columns twist their way upwards, and even the railings and furniture are designed to the smallest detail.  A must-see for any visitors to Prague, Czech Republic.
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A book, architecture, and history-loving traveler could choose their destinations, visiting these (and many other) beautiful libraries around the world.

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