Twelve of the most beautiful libraries around the world

Stift Admont in Admont, Austria

Stift Admont in Austria is the world’s largest monastery library. Constructed in 1776 by Josef Hueber, the three-chamber library is known for its Baroque architecture, impressive sculptures and seven cupola frescoes which gaze down from the ceiling. As a whole, the space is an embodiment of Hueber’s Enlightenment ideals: ‘Like our understanding, spaces too should be filled with light.’

The collection of manuscripts at Stift Admont is no less impressive: a total of 70,000 volumes are housed here, including valuable items dating back to the eighth century AD. The library is 'barrier-free', meaning you can visit for a small fee without taking a guided tour.

Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Designed by Portuguese architect Rafael da Silva e Castro and erected in the 1880s, the Royal Portuguese Reading Room evokes both Gothic-Renaissance and Neo-Manueline architectural movements in its style. Meanwhile, interiors are a medley of wooden bookcases, stained-glass windows and marble floors, all lit by an impressive chandelier and natural light flooding through an intricately detailed skylight structure.

This institution was founded by a group of Portuguese immigrants in 1837 (and opened to the public in 1900) to promote culture among the Portuguese community living in Brazil. As such, it’s no surprise that the limestone exterior of the building was inspired by the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, or that the library boasts the largest collection of Portuguese works outside Portugal.

Abbey Library of Saint Gall, Switzerland

Step inside the library at the Abbey of St Gall in Switzerland and its beauty speaks for itself. The ancient hall was designated a World Heritage Site in 1983, praised for being 'a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery'. The library was founded by Saint Othmar, who also founded the abbey, and designed by architect Peter Thumb in traditional Rococo style. Most of the abbey was destroyed during a fire in 937 but, miraculously, the library remained intact. Today, it remains a breathtakingly beautiful shrine to books and a portal to a bygone era.

Stuttgart City Library, Germany

Libraries don’t have to be steeped in history to be architecturally impressive. Here to prove it is the public library in the heart of Stuttgart, Germany. Designed by Korean architect Eun Young Yi and opened in 2011, Stuttgart City Library is a whitewashed cubic space spanning nine floors. The main attraction is a five-storey reading room shaped, unusually, like an inverted pyramid. White by day, the entire concrete structure is lit up with bright blue hues by night, making it a useful landmark for local night owls.

George Peabody Library in Baltimore, US

Six neat tiers are piled above smart marble floors and wrought-iron detailing at the George Peabody Library, part of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US. The 19th-century library was designed by architect Edmund G Lind in collaboration with the first Peabody provost, Nathaniel H Morison, and this neo-Greco ‘cathedral of books’ stands at an impressive 61ft tall.

On its shelves are over 300,000 volumes of manuscripts on everything from religion and history to literature and travel. The best bit? In keeping with the Baltimorean philanthropist George Peabody's goal to create a library ‘for the free use of all persons who desire to consult it’, the collections are open to the public to browse.

The Bodleian Library in Oxford, UK

The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford and one of the oldest libraries in Europe. Within it is the Radcliffe Camera, a stunning domed building dating back to the 1700s, named after the famous doctor John Radcliffe. While it's not ordinarily open to the public, curious bibliophiles can book a 90-minute tour of the Bodleian Libraries, during which you'll wander through the historic rooms and halls that collectively hold over 12 million items, including first editions of Jane Austen’s Emma and Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.

Kloster Wiblingen at Wiblingen Abbey, Ulm, Germany

Not all beautiful libraries are housed in big cities – and some really are worth travelling for. One such ‘book palace’ is the Kloster Wiblingen at Wiblingen Abbey in Ulm, Germany. Dating back to 1903, the glossy, marble-floored library is a fine example of Rococo art with its exquisitely decorated frescoes, polished statues and wash of rich colours. The best bit? A visit to the monastery and its 72-metre long library will set you back just 5€.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt

Once upon a time, Alexandria in Egypt was home to the most famous library in the world, but it was lost long ago in antiquity. Today, it houses another – and one that’s as much a destination for architects and design lovers as for bibliophiles. The present-day Bibliotheca Alexandrina is the result of a 1988 architectural design competition organised by Unesco. The competition was won by Norwegian firm Snøhetta, who created a circular, grey Aswan granite structure carved with characters from 120 different scripts.

The library is huge: the main reading room – with shelf space for eight million books – stands beneath a 32-metre-high glass ceiling. As well as hefty collections of books in Arabic, French and English, the site houses museums, four art galleries, a planetarium and an on-site lab in which ancient manuscripts are lovingly restored.

Strahov Library in Prague, Czech Republic

The greatest surviving work of philosopher and theologian Jeroným Hirnheim is perhaps not his theories, but the library he built in the Theological Hall (Teologický sál) of Strahov Monastery in Prague, in the 1670s. The library houses over 42,000 books but on a visit here, your eyes are more likely to be drawn to the baroque stuccowork of the curved ceiling, delicately painted with motifs under the theme of ‘true wisdom’.

The Old Library at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

The Old Library at Trinity College Dublin is the largest library in Ireland and home to the famous Book of Kells. Within it is the 65-metre Long Room, where 200,000 of the library’s oldest books are stacked in towering rows. Built between 1712 and 1732, the library was later enlarged in 1860 to create room for the upper gallery bookcases and raise the roof of the now barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Wander between the busts of philosophers and writers, and see if you can spot that of Jonathan Swift. Look out for the harp, believed to be the oldest of its kind in Ireland, dating back to the 15th century. And don’t leave without browsing the titles on the shelves: since 1801, the library has had the right to claim a free copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland. Among the rarer items in the collection is one of the few remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which was read by Patrick Pearse at the start of the Easter Rising.

Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris, France

The 17th-century Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris was originally the personal library of Cardinal Mazarin, but has been a public library since the mid-1600s, making it the oldest in France. Located within the Palace of the Institute of France, the library is a peaceful place to work with its rows of long wooden tables. It’s understatedly stylish too and like something out of a Wes Anderson movie with its uniform green lamps, and gold and green striped shelves.

The library houses around 600,000 volumes, but with its modern collection specialising in French history – particularly religious and literary works from between the 12th and 17th centuries – you might want to bring-your-own books for a study session here.

The Library at El Escorial in Madrid, Spain

Another library-cum-Unesco-World-Heritage-site can be found at El Escorial in Madrid – the historical home of the kings and monks of Spain. Designed by Juan de Herrera, the Renaissance-era library was hugely influential: breaking from the medieval design trends of the day to create a space decorated with vibrant frescoes depicting the liberal arts.

Equally revolutionary was the library’s presentation of its books: it was the first institution to display its manuscripts in shelving along walls rather than in bays at right angles – making the titles visible to browsers.

On a visit there, don't forget to spend some time admiring the library’s collection of baroque globes and armillary spheres, of which King Philip II – who originally commissioned the library – was an avid collector.