The most beautiful and unique libraries in the world (photo)
**The most beautiful and unique libraries in the world (photos)**
In an era of rapid development of digital technologies, printed books do not lose their relevance. There is a special pleasure in reading a book, drinking hot tea and wrapping yourself in a blanket. Therefore, libraries with a mysterious atmosphere and inviting readers to wonderful worlds, storing tens of thousands of works, are increasingly attracting locals and tourists.
**Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland**
Dark wooden shelves full of rare works and maps, a domed ceiling, marble busts of writers - this is exactly how many imagine an ancient classical library. The largest literary treasure in Ireland, consisting of 200 thousand books, is famous not only for the unique sacred Celtic book dating back to the 800th year, but also for its famous visitors - graduates of Trinity College. Among them are Vladimir Nabokov, Oscar Wilde and Jonathan Swift.
**Admont Abbey Library, Admont, Austria**
A truly luxurious library in the Baroque style is located in a Benedictine monastery. The seven domes of its 70-meter-long white hall are decorated with frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte. With a collection of about 200,000 copies, it is the largest monastic library in the world. The sculptures by Joseph Stammel (although made of wood, covered with bronze paint) give the interior a special charm and grandeur.
**Binhai Library, Tianjin, China**
The Binhai Library, created by the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, with a luminous sphere in the center, has become one of the most unusual libraries in the world. The books are arranged on terraced shelves that rise towards the ceiling. This makes the futuristic building look like the human eye.
**Russian National Library, St. Petersburg, Russia**
The library project was approved by Catherine II and inaugurated during the reign of Alexander I. Today, the library contains about 38 million books, manuscripts, and various documents. By the way, the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and moving stairs remind many of the library from the cartoon "Beauty and the Beast."
**Royal Library of El Escorial, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain**
**Library of the Monastery of Saint Gall, Switzerland**
**Library of the Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus, Germany**
**Handelingenkamer Parliamentary Library, The Hague, Netherlands**
**Library of the Monastery of Saint Florian, Austria**
**Qatar National Library, Doha, Qatar**
**Mazarin Library, Paris, France**