Reading a book in an extravagant backdrop is dreamy. Here are six of the world’s most beautiful that bibliophiles are guaranteed to love.
All bookworms know that a good book is able to transport you, eliminating any outside distractions. However, reading in a spectacular backdrop that exudes art and culture is an absolute must. So, here are six libraries around the world that can fulfill the fantasies of any bibliophile’.
1. Sainte-Geneviève Library, Paris
Paris is always magical and so are its libraries. The long and narrow Sainte-Geneviève library was designed by Henri Labrouste and built in 1850, a masterpiece whose reading room is characterized by cast-iron columns that support the spectacular arches. The collection of books kept in the Sainte-Geneviève library boasts rare and important titles with the authors’ names engraved on the building’s external walls.
2. Braidense National Library, Milan
The Braidense National Library in Milan is not only one of the most beautiful libraries imaginable with its frescoes, Bohemian crystal chandeliers and a globe that measures 13 feet in circumference, but also an incredibly impressive heritage: 2,367 manuscripts; 40,000 autographs; 2,368 incunabula; 24,401 sixteenth-century prints; more than 23,000 periodicals of which 4,500 are current; 5,200 photographic prints prior to 1950; 50,000 negatives on plates; 30,000 reels of microfilm; and 120,000 microforms.
3. Admont Abbey Library, Austria
An ornate amalgamation of stuccoes, golden decorations, statues, and frescoes make this library a veritable feast for the eyes. Built in the second half of the eighteenth century under Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in the Abbey of the city of Admont, the library is 260-feet long by 40 feet wide and illuminated by seven frescoed domes. It survived the fire of 1895 and the Nazi raids, and today, thanks to a series European-Union-funded restorations, visitors can admire the library in all its glory.
4. Trinity College Old Library, Dublin
A truly magical library! Not only does it hold the Book of Kells, one of the most precious and important manuscripts of the Middle Ages, but it also recalls the backdrop of a Harry Potter film. The Dublin library’s endlessly long corridors, wooden bays, and heritage of about five million books proved to be a perfect archetype for the mythical library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
5. New York Public Library, New York
The New York Public Library comprises 87 libraries throughout the city, but the Fifth Avenue headquarters is a history-rich building full with two stone lions, Patience and Fortitude, guarding its entrance. Inside, huge bright reading rooms, enchanting staircases (the same ones that caught the attention of Carrie Bradshaw in the first Sex and the City movie) and of course an incredible collection of books and interesting documents such as maps, posters, manuscripts, scores, drawings, photographs, letters, and ancient texts.
6. George Peabody Library, Baltimore
This library is named after its founder George Peabody, a philanthropist who decided to establish a library that anyone could attend for free. The nobility of his intent is commensurate with the breathtaking beauty of the interior of the library: the floor is composed of alternating slabs of black and white marble, the 61-foot high ceiling is a skylight of frosted glass through the sunlight illuminates five black cast iron balconies with gold-decorated columns. It’s not surprising that it is considered one of the world’s most beautiful buildings.
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