Mental Floss
MENU
CLOSE
  • BIG QUESTIONS
  • QUIZZES
  • BIOGRAPHIES
  • LISTS
  • AMAZING FACTS
  • STORE

SECTIONS

  • BIG QUESTIONS
  • JOB SECRETS
  • HISTORY VS.
  • KENNECTIONS
  • LIVE SMARTER
  • QUIZZES
  • RETROBITUARIES
  • SMART SHOPPING
  • #TBT

BIOGRAPHIES

  • AUTHORS
  • SCIENTISTS
  • ARTISTS
  • U.S. PRESIDENTS
  • MILITARY

TOPICS

  • ANIMALS
  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • ART
  • CORONAVIRUS
  • DIY
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FOOD
  • HEALTH
  • HISTORY
  • LANGUAGE
  • OLYMPICS
  • SCIENCE
  • SPORTS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • TRAVEL

TOPICS

  • ANIMALS
  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • ART
  • CORONAVIRUS
  • DIY
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FOOD
  • HEALTH
  • HISTORY
  • LANGUAGE
  • OLYMPICS
  • SCIENCE
  • SPORTS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • TRAVEL

TOPICS

  • ANIMALS
  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • ART
  • CORONAVIRUS
  • DIY
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • FOOD
  • HEALTH
  • HISTORY
  • LANGUAGE
  • OLYMPICS
  • SCIENCE
  • SPORTS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • TRAVEL

ABOUT

  • ABOUT US
  • AUTHORS
  • COOKIE POLICY
  • CONTACT
  • CUSTOMER SERVICE
  • PITCH A STORY
  • PRIVACY
  • RSS
  • STORE
  • TERMS
MENTAL FLOSS
ABOUT RSS CONTACT US PRIVACY POLICY COOKIE POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE
FLOOR8 12UP 90MIN
MentalFlossVideo on YouTube @mental_floss on Instagram @mental_floss on Instagram @mental_floss on Twitter
Subscribe to our Newsletter!
SIGN UP NOW
FLOOR8 12UP 90MIN
×
CLOSE
arrow
pretty pictures

7 of the Most Beautiful Libraries in the World

Massimo Listri's The World's Most Beautiful Libraries is a visual tour of the world's most spectacular temples devoted to the written word.
BY Shaunacy Ferro
Aug 06, 2018

Many modern public libraries are far from beautiful. The books within them contain expansive, intriguing worlds, but those volumes are often stored on utilitarian metal shelves that don’t lend much aesthetic value. But historically, libraries have been built as grand, palatial temples of books. “Libraries were and remain statements of prestige as well as aesthetic and architectural sophistication,” librarian and scholar Georg Ruppelt writes in an essay for The World's Most Beautiful Libraries, a new book of images by Italian photograph Massimo Listri. “These houses of knowledge have inspired secular and spiritual authorities since the Early Modern Era to devote particular attention to their design and décor.” Below are seven of the most eye-catching libraries from the book.

1of 8
LIST
GALLERY

1. BIBLIOTECA CLASSENSE // RAVENNA, ITALY

1. BIBLIOTECA CLASSENSE // RAVENNA, ITALY

1. BIBLIOTECA CLASSENSE // RAVENNA, ITALY
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
The Biblioteca Classense’s roots can be traced back to an abbey established near Ravenna, Italy, in the 11th century. The main hall was built in the early 1700s, and while it’s now a public library, its 800,000-work collection still includes 350 medieval codices and 800 incunabula from its early history.

2. RIJKSMUSEUM RESEARCH LIBRARY // AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

2. RIJKSMUSEUM RESEARCH LIBRARY // AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum was founded as a national art museum in the early 19th century. The research library, housed in a building erected in 1885 by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers, holds around 450,000 books.

3. BIBLIOTECA DO CONVENTO DE MAFRA // MAFRA, PORTUGAL

3. BIBLIOTECA DO CONVENTO DE MAFRA // MAFRA, PORTUGAL
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
The Biblioteca do Convento de Mafra is located in Portugal's national palace in Lisbon. Now a museum, the royal library was founded in 1717 and now holds 36,000 volumes.

4. REAL GABINETE PORTUGUÊS DE LEITURA // RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

4. REAL GABINETE PORTUGUÊS DE LEITURA // RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
Built in the 1880s, the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading) holds more than 350,000 volumes dating back to the 16th century—the largest collection of Portuguese works outside of Portugal.
SKIP AD

5. STRAHOVSKÁ KNIHOVNA; PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

5. STRAHOVSKÁ KNIHOVNA; PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
The Strahovská Knihovna (Strahov Library) is a monastic library in Prague founded in 1143. Parts of the current building date back to the 1600s.

6. BIBLIOTHÈQUE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE // PARIS

6. BIBLIOTHÈQUE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE // PARIS
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève is now a university library containing 2 million holdings, but it got its start as a monastic library dating back to the Middle Ages. The building was erected in the mid-19th century, but some of the collection can be traced back to the 1100s.

7. STIFTSBIBLIOTHEK SANKT GALLEN // ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND

7. STIFTSBIBLIOTHEK SANKT GALLEN // ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND
Massimo Listri / TASCHEN
The Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen was founded in 612 as a monastic library. The collection survived a 10th century fire that destroyed the rest of the Abbey of St. Gall, and is now one of the oldest libraries in the world. The 170,000 volumes that currently make up the collection are housed in an 18th century building designed by Austrian architect Peter Thumb. It became a World Heritage Site in 1983 and now serves as a public reference library.

Massimo Listri / TASCHEN

The book will be available in the U.S. from TASCHEN for $200 starting in August. You can also order it on Amazon.

Back to Beginning
Share Gallery
You may also like
Pop Culture
A Look Back at Vintage Play-Doh Cans and Playsets
A 1959 illustration imagining life in an underground lunar space station.
Space
10 Fascinating Illustrations of Soviet Space Exploration From the 20th Century
A portrait of Theodore Roosevelt and his family from 1903.
presidents
23 Photos of Theodore Roosevelt's Legendary Life
iStock/GarysFRP
photography
The California Ghost Town That's Frozen in Time
ThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnail
books literature News photographs photography photos
FACEBOOK 0
TWITTER
EMAIL
MENTAL FLOSS
ABOUT RSS CONTACT US PRIVACY POLICY COOKIE POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE
FLOOR8 12UP 90MIN
MentalFlossVideo on YouTube @mental_floss on Instagram @mental_floss on Instagram @mental_floss on Twitter
Subscribe to our Newsletter!
SIGN UP NOW
FLOOR8 12UP 90MIN