It was opened nearly 300 years ago in the year 1722. In that time this incredible place has come to accumulate over 20,000 rare books. It has been renowned for being one of the world’s most beautiful libraries and it sits in Prague. The frescos on the ceilings were painted in 1781 by Jan Hiebl and they slowly draw your attention up from the intricate floor pattern. These rare books are slowly being scanned by Google and will be available on Google Books for the rest of time without worry of deterioration. The Klementinum Library was opened as part of the Jesuit university which was the third largest in the world at one time.
The university started to record the daily weather in 1775 and has been recording every day since then.
The library is an exquisite example of Baroque architecture.
It is actually the second largest complex in all of Prague after the Prague Castle.
There was a big debate to expand the building to account for the ever-growing collection of books before 2006.
The decision to expand has been overruled so as of now the Czech National Library will stay as-is.
To this day, the library is still a dignified center of education and culture for Prague.
Aside from privately owned books, the library holds all books, manuscripts and publications issued in the Bohemian land since 1807.
The oldest documents the library contains are Greek papyri dating back to the 1st century. The Klementinum Library might be one of the world’s most beautiful buildings but there are many others around the world. Take a look at these examples below.
Biblioteca Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland
The Admont Library, Admont, Austria
George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland
St. Florian Monastery, Austria
Bibliothèque Nationale De France, Paris, France
Handelingenkamer Tweede Kamer Der Staten-generaal Den Haag Iii, Netherlands
Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria
Biblioteca Joanina, Coimbra, Portugal
These buildings truly are incredible and have withstood the test of time. They have a timeless look and feel to them. The amount of history they contain is what has shaped the world as we know it. If knowledge is power, these libraries might just be the some of the most important places on earth.