Epic Libraries

Libraries ares not that kind of place we usually think about to visit while exploring a city, but some of them are just masterpieces that we should see and enjoy just like an important monument or a museum. Here is the world's most beautiful libraries you have to see in your world tour in no particular order.

Real Gabinete Português de Leitura,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Founded in 1837 by Portuguese immigrants to promote culture amongst the Portuguese community.

Trinity College Library,
Dublin, Ireland.
This is the largest library in Ireland, grouping old manuscripts and Irish literature. It is also the permanent home to the Book of Kells, a manuscript illustrated with patterns realized by Celtics monks around 800.

Stiftsbibliothek Admont,
Admont, Austria.
This is the world’s largest monastery library built in 1776, famous for its Baroque architecture, art and old manuscripts.

Biblioteca do Convento de Mafra,
Mafra, Portugal.
More than 40,000 leather-bound volumes are collected in this long row with some rarities like the first edition "Os Lusíadas" written by Portuguese poet Camões.

Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève,
Paris, France.
This library was built in 1851 and contains more than 2m documents.

Rijksmuseum, Research Library,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
This library, built in 1885, is the largest public art history research library in the country. 

Biblioteca Statale Oratoriana dei Girolamini,
Naples, Italy.
This is the oldest library in Naples open to the public since 1566, located near the chiesa dei Girolamini.

Stiftsbibliothek Kremsmünster,
Kremsmünster, Austria.
Built between 1680 and 1689 in a monastery, this library contains about 160,000 rare volumes.

Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen,
St Gallen, Switzerland.
Founded in the 8e secular and rebuilt in the 16e in a baroque style, this is the oldest library of Switzerland and the one of the earliest monastic libraries in the world.

Strahovská Knihovna,
Prague, Czech Republic.
With its more than 200 000 works, The library is one of the most preserved of Europe with two grand baroque halls dating from  1671-1674 and 1794 for the second one.

Biblioteca Joanina,
Coimbra, Portugal.
Built in the 18th century in the university of Coimbra, it has the particularity to houses bats to protect the books against insects.