10 Magnificent Historical Libraries

[Music] ever since the invention of writing over 5 000 years ago there's been a need for places to store our texts as a consequence it didn't take long before the first libraries were built over time however these structures evolved into something far greater than just utilitarian storage from wealthy rulers to institutions and private patrons many of the centuries have emptied their coffers to make libraries that are true works of art and serve as celebrations of human knowledge in marble gold and stucco although there are too many to cover them all here in this video we'll look at 10 of the world's most magnificent historical libraries [Music] constructed in the lavish rococo style our first library is located in the abbey of saint-gaul in switzerland having been founded all the way back in the 700s aed it's one of the oldest libraries in the world over the centuries it accumulated an impressive collection of books and the current structure was built to house them from 1758 to 67. designed by austrian architect peter thumb it features meticulously carved curving balconies and the ceiling frescoes framed by flowing moldings the room also contains a replica of a 16th century globe and has since 1820 been home to an ancient egyptian mummy [Music] at nearly 65 meters in length and two stories tall the long room in the old library of trinity college dublin makes for a dramatic space originally constructed with a flat ceiling in the early 18th century a taller vaulted roof was made in 1860 to accommodate an upper gallery since its initial construction the rumors also acquired a collection of busts featuring great philosophers riders and people who have supported the college today the long room is filled with 200 000 of the library's oldest books it also contains the medieval trinity college harp which served as model of ireland's coat of arms and one of the last remaining copies of the 1916 proclamation of the irish republic [Music] beginning construction in 1880 and finishing seven years later this building in the center of rio de janeiro brazil contains the largest collection of portuguese books outside of portugal itself in total it has around 350 000 volumes including many unique and rare ones dating back 500 years the building was inspired by the late gothic architecture of 16th century portugal but also utilized modern iron construction to create its beautiful stained glass stone beneath it lies the grand reading room with its lavishly decorated bookshelves covering the walls from floor to ceiling and rising three stories tall [Music] located in central austria the thousand-year-old admont abbey is home to the largest monastic library in the world consisting of a 70 meter long hall it has taken the breath away of many visitors over the centuries and has sometimes even been called the eighth wonder of the world constructed in 1776 it was designed by architect joseph hoiber in the late baroque style he was an adherent of the ideals of the enlightenment and designed the space to reflect the spirit of this movement the dark brown tones common in early libraries were exchanged for white with delicate gold decorations and the space was filled with lights shining into 48 windows furthermore seven frescoes were painted in the ceiling showing the various faces of human understanding and culminating in divine revelation painted in the central coppola [Music] the national library of france is housed in a number of different buildings scattered across paris but its historical heart is a complex called the racial u.s site this is the location of two remarkable reading rooms the earliest is called the la bruce hall of its designer aurelie labrust and dates to the 1860s combining the industrial architecture of his day with the elegance of classicism he used iron columns to hold up a series of domes through which light could flow into the space following the brust's death in 1875 the complex was further expanded adding the oval reading room this space measures 44 meters long by 33 meters wide and extends some 18 meters in height the central part of the roof is made of glass and the circumference of the room is covered by bookshelves standing behind 16 pairs of cast iron columns built for the habsburg emperor charles vi in the early 18th century the imperial court library now known as the austrian national library is remarkable both for its size and splendor originally a freestyling structure the building was later extended and connected with hofburg palace in vienna [Music] its main room is called the prungsall or state hall and extends almost 80 meters long with a domed ceiling towering nearly 20 meters overhead in addition the room is filled with frescoes and marble statues and lined with beautifully carved chestnut shelves there are also two exquisite venetian globes one for the earth and one for the sky each with a diameter of more than a meter at the center of the space stands a statue of the emperor himself watching over the more than two hundred thousand books stored here the biblioteca gionina stands on a hilltop overlooking coimbra portugal and is one of the highlights of the city's old university campus constructed between 1717 and 1728 it was named after its wealthy patron king john v the interior is sumptuously decorated in baroque fashion it contains intricately crowded furniture and bookshelves made of exotic woods as well as ivory and is embellished with gold and shinwasseri motifs the main floor is made up of three rooms divided by decorative arches leading you to a large portrait of the king at the end designed to carefully regulate its temperature and humidity many of the books in the bibliotheca gionina remain in excellent condition despite being several centuries old this is also thanks to the fact that it's one of only two libraries in the world that contains a colony of bats to protect the bugs from insects [Music] located in lisbon the capital of portugal the monumental palace of mafra is another of king john v's building projects constructed over a period of almost 40 years it finally stood finished in 1755 and contains what is arguably one of the world's most beautiful libraries measuring 88 meters long by 9.5 meters wide it's designed with a subdued color scheme of white and green the decorative floor is made with tiles of marble and the wooden bookshelves are decorated in the rococo style they contain over 36 thousand precious leather-bound books some of which were made in a local workshop like in the biblioteca jonina an unusual method has been employed to protect these fragile volumes here too they're guarded by a bad colony once described as a cathedral of books the george peabody library is a space that can make studying feel monumental the structure is located on the campus of the peabody conservatory of music in baltimore maryland and dates back to the 19th century completed in 1878 its construction was made possible thanks to philanthropist george peabody and it was designed by baltimore architect edmund g lind the building contains a grand atrium at its core with five stories of ornamental cast iron balconies surrounding it from its black and white marble floor to the massive glass skylights and the decorative ceiling the space rises about eighteen and a half meters tall a masterpiece of the airy and playful rococo style this library is located in wibblingen abbey in the german state of baden-wurttemberg having been founded in the 11th century the monastery underwent a massive renovation scheme during the 1700s and this room dates to the middle of that period although relatively small compared to other libraries on this list it's nonetheless impressive every inch of it is covered in decoration and painted in a rich palette of gold pink and blue in addition to this explosion of color its winding gallery domed sealing as well as flowing moldings and sculptures give the whole space a sense of movement [Music] 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Channel: Kings and Things

Views: 457,863

Keywords: beautiful libraries, most beautiful libraries, beautiful architecture, beautiful buildings, classical architecture, baroque, rococo, classicism, paris, wonders of the world

Id: UhcPaCri0tg

Length: 9min 45sec (585 seconds)

Published: Mon May 24 2021