As a special treat for World Book Day, we’ve picked a few of the most stunning libraries around the globe. These incredible institutions tell stories that are just as remarkable as the books they keep..
Admont Abbey Library (Alamy)
There is little that’s understated about the Benedictine abbey at Admont, 100km or so east of Salzburg. Museums stud the late-Baroque complex, showcasing Austrian art, religious artefacts and a surprisingly expansive natural-history collection. But the star of the show is the largest monastery library in the world. The seven vaulted domes of its 70m-long hall are adorned with celestial frescoes painted in 1776 by the then 80-year-old Bartolomeo Altomonte. Marble was used with lavish abandon, and seemingly every detail gleams gold, lending even the bookcases a Rococo flourish. Day visitors can take guided tours, peeking behind secret doors masked by dummy book spines, gazing at the 70,000 volumes on display and listening to tales of how all this grandeur was so nearly lost in the 1865 fire that devastated much of the monastery
Tianjin Binhai Library (Alamy)
When is a library not a library? Designed and built in three years, practicality was thrown out of the window in favour of sci-fi grandeur at this marvel an hour’s train ride south-east of Beijing. The heart of its central hall is a giant white sphere around which undulating walls ripple skyward, textured like an enormous fingerprint bleached white. Its shelves rise six storeys, yet such was the speed of its build (and due to some strange town-planning quirks) that the upper shelves are inaccessible, with the book spines merely printed on; even volumes on lower levels are largely for show. The readable book collection lies hidden on the first- and second-floor reading rooms. But despite the deception – and social-media backlash when it opened in 2017 – it’s undeniably a true spectacle.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Alamy)
Few haven’t heard of the Great Library of Alexandria, which was said to have contained all the wisdom of the ancient world. Likely established during Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter’s reign (323–285BC), its destruction robbed us of untold knowledge. But, more than 2,000 years after fires lit by Julius Caesar’s forces sparked its decline, a successor appeared. Inaugurated in 2009, the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a story in itself. The curved facade is made from huge granite slabs etched with languages spanning some 10,000 years, and a tilted roof shades its collection of some eight million books. Though its design bears little resemblance to descriptions of its predecessor, the tiered reading room echoes the amphitheatres of old. Tours in English (Saturday–Thursday) tell the stories of both libraries.
The Morgan Library & Museum (Alamy)
John Pierpont (JP) Morgan was a financial titan during the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, when unabashed displays of wealth were in fashion. Having amassed an array of beautiful books and manuscripts, he purchased a site on Madison Avenue on which to build a mansion and library housing his collection. Today, it includes one of the finest surviving copies of the original American Declaration of Independence, a manuscript of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and a handwritten score by Mozart. The building, completed in 1906, is every inch the rich man’s fantasy: an ersatz palazzo with walls draped in Renaissance art and a rotunda decorated with Raphael-inspired designs. A public institution since 1924, the expanded museum now incorporates Morgan’s mansion, and hosts exhibitions and concerts.
Piccolomini Library (Shutterstock)
The black-and-white-striped stonework of Siena Cathedral is instantly recognisable. Inside, its vaulted ceiling is speckled with golden stars. But the brightest star here is the adjoining Piccolomini Library, commissioned in 1492 to house the book collection of the 15th-century Pope Pius II. Though few of his original volumes remain here – aside from some extraordinary illuminated manuscripts – Pinturicchio’s magnificent ten-fresco cycle depicting the life of the pontiff dazzles. It’s reputed to have been partly designed in the late 15th century by a young Raphael, who by tradition appears in one image. Pius II died of fever in 1464 while trying (and failing) to mount a crusade, but his story lives on in this incredible library.
Look for a larger version of this article in the upcoming April/May issue of Wanderlust
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