6 Free Overlooked Destinations
6 Free Overlooked Destinations
There are few places in this world that can provide mankind the most powerful tools one may truly every need. Tools so powerful they lend anyone the ability to alter the past and change the future. In most cases, this power is offered to all of us for free of charge. These magical places are called Libraries and they are located in almost every country and city around the world.
They contain insurmountable limits of knowledge spanning from historical facts and incredible fiction spanning from any and all forms of art and the dynamic forms of music. Religion and Science. Architectural miracles, successes and failures. War. Concurs and defeats. Geography, Psychology.
Medical facts, theories, myths and miraculous discoveries. Astrology and Aviation. Details surround innumerous types of cultures and the similarities and differences between them. Information on discoveries from the earliest forms of life on our planet and the facts and hypotheses as to how all life has progressed throughout time.
Fictional tales from the imagination of those who were generous enough to share many of the most beautiful thoughts and dreams, in such detail one can find themselves enamoured within the words written on simple pieces of paper. Factual accounts from those throughout the history of time that allows us to know personal information of those that lived before us.
Library walls are covered with books holding whimsical fantasies and tales provided from every era, all cultures and societies, without regard to things like race or differences.
Visit any library and you can research information surrounding the legacy of mankind and the creators and inhabitants that we share this universe with.
Libraries are a consortium of endless knowledge collected throughout thousands of years and while they are generally not on the top of most “Bucket List” agendas, they should not be ruled out altogether. We’ve gathered a list of six of the most incredible libraries throughout the world that we consider “Must Experience Adventures”.
Biblioteca Joanina, University of Coimbra, Portugal
This baroque library, built in the 18th century during the reign of King João V, was largely funded by gold discovered in Brazil.
It consists of three great rooms divided by arches decorated by some of Portugal’s greatest artists and is home to over 250,000 books.
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Strahov Abbey Library, Strahov, Czech Republic
The Rococo ceiling of the Theological Hall at Strahov Abbey doesn’t just look stunning, it was also designed to protect from fire – a huge problem in Medieval and Renaissance libraries. Home to over 200,000 books, including 1,500 rare first editions, it was incorporated into the Czech Memorial of National Literature in 1950.
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Stiftsbibliothek, Admont Abbey, Austria
This extraordinary library is the largest monastery library in the world and features seven cupolas decorated with frescoes showing the stages of human knowledge up to the high point of Divine Revelation. The books in the original collection were re-bound in white – at enormous expense – to match the rest of the decorative scheme.
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Klosterbibliothek, Metten, Germany
Hidden on the fringes of the Bavarian Forest, not far from the Danube river, the Metten Abbey is home to one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. A riot of Rococo embellishments, including columns that feature sculptures of Christian heroes like Thomas Aquinas, It contains over 150,000 volumes on theology, philosophy and history and can only be visited as part of a tour.
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Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland
The Library of the Trinity College in Dublin was founded in 1592 and is the permanent home to the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the gospels of the New Testament, presented to the library in 1661 by Henry Jones. The library’s famous Long Room has been extended on a number of occasions to accommodate every book published in Ireland which the library is compelled to take because of its status as a legal deposit library.
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Biblioteca do Convento de Mafra, Mafra, Portugal
Occupying the largest and most prestigious room in the Palace of Mafra, the Biblioteca do Convento de Mafra is one of the most significant Enlightenment libraries in Europe. Such was its importance, Pope Benedictus XV allowed the library to shelter prohibited books, the reading of which normally lead to excommunication.
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