Not only storing a lot of ancient and precious knowledge, Klementinum library is also one of the most beautiful libraries in the world and the pride of the people of the Czech Republic. Let’s admire this masterpiece of construction!
Located in Prague (Prague) – Czech Republic, founded in 1722 on the former site of Saint Clement’s church, the Klementinum library was once part of the prestigious Prague seminary. At first, this place only allowed Catholic students to study and read before opening its doors to residents and visitors everywhere in 1777.
The Klementinum Library is a prime example of the glamor and sophistication of regal Baroque architecture. This place is voted as one of the most beautiful and majestic libraries in the world. This is not only a dream destination for book lovers, but also attracts many tourists from all over to admire.
Let’s admire the enchanting beauty of this place!
The gilded spiral wooden columns and the extremely impressive ceiling of the church give visitors a feeling of being overwhelmed and enchanted just like being lost in a fairy world for visitors when visiting this place.
Featuring typical Baroque architecture of the 17th century Renaissance, the Klementinum Library spans an area of 20,000m², with a dense system of shelves containing more than 200,000 books and research materials, including originals. rare works of the classic form of Central Europe.
In particular, the ceiling is the most expensive detail in library architecture. There is not a single tourist who visits the national library in the Czech Republic without marveling at the sheer beauty of the ceiling oil frescoes penned by the famous artist Jan Hiebl. In addition to the religious theme with Jesuit saints, this talented artist also depicts the people who are credited with founding this place.
In 1781, Director Karel Rafael Ungar published the Biblioteca Nationalis, a collection of culture and language in Czech. The work is considered as an irreplaceable cultural and spiritual heritage of this country. To this day, this collection is still intact as it was originally and is kept exclusively in the museum area of the National Library of Klementinum.
Not only monumental and impressive, Klementinum library is also known for many interesting things. This place was once the 3rd largest seminary in the world. In addition, all weather records of this place have been kept since 1775 and continue to this day.
Today, the Klementinum library is privileged to become a national library and has more than 6 million books, of which the oldest is the Vyšehrad Codex (Vyšehradský Kodex). In addition, the library has the Dalimil Chronicles (Dalimilova kronika) in a very limited pocket edition as well as books on dogmatism, seclusion, arithmetic, and many other rare volumes.
If you are a book lover, passionate about travel, and have an eye on medieval Europe, then if you have the opportunity to come to the Czech Republic, don’t forget to visit this masterpiece of work!