This feature explores how remarkable libraries double as unforgettable travel destinations, offering silence, culture and architectural wonder. From Prague’s Klementinum and Ireland’s Trinity College to Egypt’s reborn Library of Alexandria, it highlights historic collections, unique designs and immersive reading spaces that let travelers experience a country’s heritage through its books and buildings.
Libraries have always been space where one can sit in silence and revel in the world of stories. Unless, you're at a university and trying to submit your thesis. They are travel destinations in themselves.
In a way, libraries offer the rarest luxury retreats. You can sit in silence without the looming presence of loneliness and immerse yourself in the experience that only the world of books can bring to you.
There are some incredible libraries across the world that are not only the best places where you can prop yourself in a comfortable spot and read on, but some also happen to offer their own magical architecture, histories and wonder. So much so that they can be a great addition to your travel destination list. They can be a great way for a travel to understand culture of a country and more.
Here are some of the best libraries that you can add to your travel list:
In Czech Republic, the Clementinum is Prague's second largest building complex after Prague Castle and houses the most beautiful library in the world. Among the 27,000 old printed works are Kepler's writings with his handwritten dedication to his friends, the dean and other Prague university professors.
If you ever go to Kochi, Japan, visit to Yushihara Community Library is a must. The library makes extensive use of Yusuhara-grown timber, creating a relaxing space where visitors can enjoy the feel and smell of the wood and is designed by Kengo Kuma, who also designed the Haruki Murakami Library.
You might want to go to Manchester to support ManU, maybe add a quick trip to John Rylands library which is the most recommended and popular libraries in the country.
Also called Abbey of St Gall, the ancient library is located in the town of St Gall in the north-eastern part of Switzerland, and largely owes its present appearance to the construction campaigns of the 18th century.
A perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery, the High Baroque library is considered one of the oldest libraries in the world and not only holds a library that has some ancient manuscripts from the 18th century but also a cathedral. Moreover, the Swiss library represents 1200 years of history of monastic architecture
Once one of the world's most ancient libraries, the first Library of Alexandria was built in the third century by Ptolemy I. In 84 B.C. it was the first destruction of the Library by fire. Then there were several attacks by Christians and Arabs and also an earthquake. In 1986 the Library was rebuilt by UNESCO. In 2002 the new Library of Alexandria was inaugurated, housing 20 million books.
Today, the new library of Alexandria holds space not only for reading with a capacity for 2000 people but also has a manuscript restoration laboratory, conference center, art gallery and printing press.
The Library of Trinity College Dublin, located on College Green in the heart of Dublin, Ireland, is the country’s largest library. Established in 1592, it holds legal deposit rights allowing it to claim a free copy of every publication produced in Ireland and the UK.
Located in Coimbra and part of the University of Coimbra, it owes its name to the monarch who ordered its building in 1717. It holds over 70,000 volumes, including many priceless, historical documents and first editions. Interestingly, the library is noted as being one of two in the world (the Mafra palace library being the other) whose books are protected from insects by the presence of a colony of bats within the library.
The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek is a publicly accessible archive and research library of European literary and cultural history with a particular focus on the era between 1750 and 1850. In keeping with the tradition of a ducal library, its holdings contain collections dating back to the 9th century which are continuously expanded, catalogued and made accessible with current research literature.
Located in Tokorozawa, the Kadokawa Culture Museum is a structural marvel. Designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, the museum building is an imposing stone structure that appears as though it has been transplanted directly from the pages of a manga comic book.
The centerpiece of the Kadokawa Culture Museum is its Bookshelf Theater. This mind-blowing, ten-meter-high atrium is a library like no other you've seen before.
The Starfield Library in Suwon is a stunning, open-concept cultural space located within the Starfield Suwon shopping mall. Famous for its jaw-dropping 22-meter-high, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, it spans from the 4th to the 7th floor and houses over 60,000 books, magazines, and cozy reading areas.
A futuristic 33,700 square-feet library in China, is also known as "The Eye,". Its focal point is a massive, luminous spherical auditorium surrounded by terraced, undulating floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that wrap around the building, creating an awe-inspiring sea of knowledge.
Not a library but a bookshop that was featured in Harry Potter,Livraria Lello & Irmão in the northern Portuguese municipality of Porto is a neo-gothic architectural gem founded in 1906 by two brothers (irmãos) who understood the value of bookstores. Since then, the bookshop has become central to preserving the culture around books and art.