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Great Libraries of the World Tour: Learn from the Masters of Knowledge and Art



24 neat km towards Aarhus and one of the greatest libraries in the world, Dokk1. The route was excellent with sunny roads by the sea and Dokk1 is always a huge pleasue to visit; buzzing community, happy kids, concentrated students, a world of knowledge to explore in outstanding architecture. Thrilled to meet a great painting of poet and lifelong cycling aficionado Jørgen Leth.




great libraries of the world tour



The Library of Congress in Washington DC is essentially both the national library of the U.S. and the country's oldest federal cultural institution. Though it consists of only three buildings, it is the largest library in the world for shelf space and number of volumes. While open to the public for on-site research and as a tourist attraction, as the research institution of Congress, only members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and other specified government officials can check out books. The library is formally known as the "library of last resort" in the U.S., charged with making certain items available to other national libraries if all other means have been exhausted. The library's holdings are vast, including more than 32 million books, more than 61 million manuscripts, a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, one of only four perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the world, over one million newspapers from the last three centuries, over five million maps, six million pieces of sheet music, and more than 14 millions photos and prints.


The Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds the distinction of being the largest building in the world that serves the express purpose of preserving rare books and manuscripts, which alone undoubtedly makes it one of the best libraries in the world. The library's impressive holdings celebrate significant authors like Rudyard Kipling, D.H. Lawrence, Sinclair Lewis, and Joseph Conrad through its special collections. Beinecke's central shelving area includes glass walls and soft lighting to protect the works from direct light. Accessible to the public as a tourist attraction, the library's exhibition hall displays many of the library's rare works, including one of only 48 copies in existence of a treasured Gutenberg Bible.


The Vatican Library, under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, is one of the oldest libraries in the world. Though it was formally established in 1475, its existence in early forms dates back to the origins of the Catholic Church. For nearly 600 years, the library has added to its collection through historic acquisitions, generous bequests, and gracious gifts. The Vatican Library currently holds mor than 1.1 million books, 75,000 manuscripts, and over 8,500 incunabula. Fittingly, the library owns the oldest complete manuscript of the Bible, as well as many other significant works from medieval times.


The Abbey Library of Saint Gall is the oldest library in Switzerland. The library's founder, Saint Othmar, is also credited with establishing an abbey of the same name in 719, known as one of the oldest monastery libraries in the world. Saint Gall is home to roughly 160,000 volumes, including manuscripts dating back to the 8th century. In 1983, the United Nations' Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization named the library a World Heritage site, calling it a "a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery". The library offers online access to many of its holdings through an electronic database though, as a general rule, pre-1900 books can only be read on-site.


Among few libraries in Europe to hold a prized Gutenberg Bible in its collection, the Château de Chantilly Library is part of a French estate that also includes one of France's most important art galleries, the Musée Condé. The main part of the estate (Grand Château) was built in 1528-1531, with an additional annex (Petit Château) constructed in 1560. The Grand Château was destroyed during the French Revolution and was later rebuilt from the ground up between 1875 and 1881. The library of the estate contains more than 1,300 manuscripts and 12,500 printed works, including the aforementioned Gutenberg Bible (one of more than 700 incunabula, a term describing early printed books, typically before 1501,) and roughly 200 medieval manuscripts. The library is often open to the public for guided tours.


The Phillips Exeter Academy Library is the biggest library in the world when it comes to secondary school libraries. In a way, this is one of the most impressive libraries on our list for being merely a part of a prep school, albeit one of the wealthiest prep schools in the world. Designed by architect Louis Kahn, the the structure has won numerous architectural awards, including a Twenty-five Year Award by the American Institute of Architects, which is given to only one prestigious building each year. The library was even commemorated on a U.S. Postal Service stamp in 2005 as one of 12 stamp-worthy Masterworks of Modern American Architecture.


The Rijksmuseum Library is part of the Dutch National Museum in Amsterdam. One of the world's foremost libraries specializing in art and art history, the Rijksmuseum holds over 350,000 auction, exhibition, trade, and collection catalogues, in addition to numerous books and periodicals. Though the items on site have been collected since 1885, the library now also features an extensive online catalog with over 140,000 monographs, 20,000 art sale catalogs, and 3,200 magazines on display. The library is open to the public; while books and magazines are not available for check-out, they can be viewed in the reading room.


One of the best libraries in the world, and certainly one of the most distinctive and an architectural feat in its own right, the National Library of Belarus is shaped like a Rhombicuboctahedron (or this, for our fellow non-mathematicians). The unique 22-story building was opened in 2006, although the library has been in operation since 1922. The library is a tourist attraction and popular destination in Minsk, featuring a public observation deck and hosting public concerts on its lawn. As the official copyright library of Belarus, the National Library holds more than 8 million items, and houses the third largest collection of Russian works in the world.


Do you love books? What kind of books fascinate you? Libraries are a hub for those who love to read books, researchers, and casual readers alike. Although many see the library as a place to borrow books and just read, the library is a lot more than that. A library is a place of learning and art. Modern libraries have managed to keep up with technological advances yet keep that feeling of being in a library. While all libraries contain books and other related services, there are a few libraries that stand out. Here are some of the best libraries in the world that will make book-lovers swoon.


The Library of Congress is the oldest national institute in the United States, as well as being the national library of the US. The Library of Congress consists of three buildings and is the biggest library on the planet regarding shelf space. The Library of Congress consists of about 32-million books and over 61 million manuscripts. The Library of Congress is also referred to as the library of last resort and it continues to live up to its name as researchers all over the world rally around this library for information. This library is available for tours in Washington D.C.


This library is the biggest library in the world that has the sole purpose of maintaining special books along with manuscripts. The Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is home to one of the rare copies of the Gutenberg Bible. There are only 48 of these Bibles in existence. This alone makes it among the best libraries on the planet. The Yale Library is open for tourists and visitors.


Libraries are indeed a place of art and culture. If you are not interested in books and manuscripts, the general lure of a good library has a way of compelling you to pick up a book. No information gained is a loss. Keep in mind that these libraries are not arranged based on any level hierarchy as they are all great libraries.


Hands down, The Library at Night is one of the coolest exhibitions I've been to lately, maybe ever. It explores ten great libraries of the world using virtual reality. It's more than an exhibition: the virtual reality makes it a personal experience. I cannot recommend it highly enough.


If you want to take a virtual library tour of one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, then you need to take a look at the Klementinum Library. This library is the National Library of the Czech Republic and the interior will blow you away!


The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most important libraries of the ancient world, but was unfortunately destroyed (first in a partial accidental burning by Julius Caesar and then later probably fully destroyed by Aurelian). While this is a horrible tragedy, there is actually a new Library of Alexandria in Egypt that officially opened in 2002.


On the warm, cloudy morning of December 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet," a force of sixteen battleships bristling with guns and painted sparkling white, steam out of Hampton Roads, Virginia to begin its 43,000-mile, 14-month circumnavigation of the globe "to demonstrate to the world America's naval prowess." The four-mile-long armada's world tour included 20 port calls on six continents, and is widely considered one of the greatest peacetime achievements of the U.S. Navy. Read more about it!


Above the shelves of the Theological Hall are gilded wooded-carved decorations inside wooden cartouches. These functioned as a sort of early card cataloguing system. The pictures in the wooden cartouches specified the type of literature stored on the shelves below. Above all the shelves is magnificently painted fresco. The mural portrays the ethos of the library that a person with great faith must also build on his knowledge and provide education for those who need it, sharing his learned knowledge with the world. There is a piece of script carved into the iron gates on the other side of the library which states INITIUM SAPIENTIAE TIMOR DOMINI (the beginning of wisdom is fear of God.) Along the centre of the room are a series of 17th-century geographical and astronomical globes. 2ff7e9595c


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