Libraries
WHS containing historically significant libraries. Building and/or collection must still exist.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch | Abbey of Lorsch is considered as the most significant library of the Carolingian period. Today, the inventory of the library is spread over more than 70 libraries worldwide | |
| Abbey of St Gall | St. Gall Library | |
| Aleppo | National Library of Aleppo | |
| Amsterdam Canal Ring | Library Ets Haim | |
| Ancient Ksour | Chinguetti - a historically significant Koran library | |
| Assisi | The library of the Sacro Convento, opened to the public in 1979, not only holds documents from the convent, but also the old collection of the municipal library, with the manuscripts dating from before the 19th century. It has 709 handwritten codes (12th-16th centuries), many of which present splendid illuminations, 356 incunabula, 3,256 "cinquecentine" and more than 92,000 volumes. Particularly interesting is the musical collection, which includes around 2,500 manuscripts. (Nomination file, p. 37) | |
| Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University | "The heliometer and telescope pavilions, the Meteor Department pavilion, the library and administrative buildings are also part of the nominated property" - nom file | |
| Bahla Fort | Bahla Fort's empty library | |
| Blenheim Palace | Long Library: its original books were sold, now the magnificent Willis organ is the centre piece | |
| Botanical Garden, Padua | Scientific library | |
| Budapest | Burg Library | |
| Central University City Campus of the UNAM | Central Library | |
| Changdeokgung Palace Complex | Changdeokgung Palace's Court Library in the secret garden | |
| Cilento and Vallo di Diano | Certosa di Padula | |
| Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas | The campus includes a series of large buildings, in particular ... the Library (AB ev) | |
| Classical Weimar | Anna Amalia Library | |
| Cuenca | At the Seminario | |
| Edinburgh | National Library of Scotland | |
| El Escurial | ||
| Ephesus | Library of Celsus | |
| Fasil Ghebbi | ||
| Ferrara | The Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea in the Palazzo Paradiso | |
| Florence | National Central Library, Laurentian Library, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Gabinetto Vieusseux | |
| Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz | ||
| Graz | Eggenberg Library | |
| Haeinsa Temple | Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks | |
| Hahoe and Yangdong | Included in the nominated property are three Confucian academies Byeongsanseowon, Oksanseowon, and Donggangseowon. "Seowon, or a Confucian academy was a private educational institution set up exclusively for a man who had achieved outstanding learning and virtue. Its twin roles of enshrining a specific sage and educating students were reflected in its components: shrine, jeonsacheong, a building for the preparation of memorial rites, lecture hall, students' quarters (jaesa), library (jangpangak), and an elevated pavilion (nugak) where Confucian scholars held gatherings or took rests." - Advisory Body Evaluation | |
| Imperial Palace | The Qing Palace in Shenyang | |
| Island of Patmos | Monastery: containing some two thousand printed books and over a thousand manuscripts, many of them of great antiquity and beauty (AB ev) | |
| Istanbul | (Topkapi) Enderun Library | |
| Jesuit Block and Estancias of Córdoba | Great Library of the Society of Jesus, in Cordoba's University | |
| Karlskrona | City Library | |
| Kazan Kremlin | Qolsarif Mosque Library | |
| Kew Gardens | Created 1852 - one of the world's major botanical libraries | |
| La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle | Bibliothéque de la Ville de la Chaux-de-Fonds (with murals) | |
| Litomysl Castle | in the 17th century it held 4,000 books | |
| Macao | Sir Robert Ho Tung Library (1894) | |
| Mafra | a Library, still preserving 36,000 volumes from the Portuguese Kings’ collection (AB ev) | |
| Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi | a library (Kitab khana) (AB ev) | |
| Monticello | Rotunda used to be the University library | |
| Mount Athos | A number of the Monasteries on Mt Athos contain significant libraries eg Pantelemion Hilandar | |
| Nancy | ||
| Naples | Girolamini Convent Library | |
| Nesvizh | "The books of the library originated from practically all European printing houses of the period from the 15th to the first half of the 20th centuries. A map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the so-called Radziwill map, was of particular significance to Central European cartography. It was the first map in the history of cartography to give a true picture of the entire territory of Belarus and Lithuania" (AB evaluation) | |
| Novodevichy Convent | The collections of Novodevichy contain a large number of precious objects and paintings, as well as an important library, related to the life of the tsarist dynasties and the history of the country (AB ev) | |
| Old City of Jerusalem | Khaldiyya, Gulbenkian Library | |
| Pannonhalma | ||
| Pergamon | "Pergamum was home to a library said to house approximately 200,000 volumes, according to the writings of Plutarch.[3] Built by Eumenes II between 220 and 159 BCE and situated at the northern end of the Acropolis, it became one of the most important libraries in the ancient world." (wiki) | |
| Plantin-Moretus Museum | ||
| Plečnik's Ljubljana | National Library | |
| Pompei | The Herculaneum papyri are more than 1,800 papyri found in the Herculaneum Villa of the Papyri, in the 18th century, carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The papyri, ..., come from the only surviving library from antiquity that exists in its entirety. (wiki) | |
| Potsdam | Gothic Library at Babelsberg Castle | |
| Prague | Strahov Monastery Library | |
| Puebla | Biblioteca Palafoxana | |
| Quedlinburg | Historische Bibliothek Quedlinburg | |
| Rammelsberg and Goslar | Marktkirchen-Bibliothek in Goslar | |
| Regensburg | At Turn und Taxis Palace | |
| Residence of Bukovinian & Dalmatian Metropolitans | Krayova Library | |
| Residences of the Royal House of Savoy | Royal Library | |
| Rhodes | Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library: "Among the most valuables there is a Koran from 1540, the history of the Turkish siege of the city in 1522, and manuscripts with Persian miniatures." (wiki) | |
| Rila Monastery | Housing 250 manuscripts and 9,000 old printed matters | |
| Royal Palace at Caserta | Palatine Library | |
| Safi al-Din Ensemble in Ardabil | "Sheikh Safi al-din ensemble consists of a range of buildings including the tomb, Khānegāh, the library, the mosque, the school...This huge building ..was called Jannat Sara, and served as the library. In the Islamic [Islamia] encyclopedia, there is an account of the greatness of the library of Sheikh Safi al-din. Today, nothing of the library is left though it has once been the largest library in Iran.....At the time of occupation of Ardabil by the Russians (1827), the religious and cultural texture of the city suffered grave losses. The library was sent to Saint Petersburg by General Peskevich, and was attached to the library of that city". Nom File - this describes how Russian troops "diverted" to Ardabil "It was only the library of Sheikh Safi al-din Ardabili's shrine which held numerous books and precious manuscripts ..... (so) though Ardabil was not on their route, and its occupation would cost expenses and efforts to them ... a group of soldiers were dispatched to Ardabil to besiege the library and take control of it". This Russian article of 1996 claims that the library was actually "purchased" and selected "with the assistance of the mosque's mufti" (see link) | |
| Saint Catherine Area | "The monastery library preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. Its strength lies in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Georgian, and Syriac texts. The Codex Sinaiticus, now in the British Library, left the monastery in the 19th century for Russia, in circumstances that are now disputed." | |
| Salamanca | Old library of the University of Salamanca | |
| Salzburg | Zellenbibliothek at Stift Sankt Peter | |
| Santa Maria de Guadalupe | scriptorum | |
| Santiago de Compostela | The Archive-Library of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, "comprising books and documents from the Middle Ages until today; one of the main centers of the world for research on St. James." | |
| Selimiye Mosque | Within the mosque | |
| Seowon, Neo-Confucian Academies | "Library functions are an essential aspect for supporting study functions. As a space for the study of Neo-Confucian classics and other academic writing by Neo-Confucian scholars, seowon required libraries. The significant volume of old documents, literary works, and woodblocks stored in the nominated property prove its authenticity." - Nomination File | |
| Seville | Archivo de Indias | |
| Siena | Libreria Piccolomini in the cathedral of Siena | |
| St. Petersburg | National Library of Russia, established in 1795 by Catherine the Great | |
| Stralsund and Wismar | Baroque library at St. John monastery | |
| Sucre | National Library, holding documents since the 15th century | |
| Syracuse | Biblioteca Alagoniana | |
| Tabriz Bazaar | Jafaryya Library, Kalkatachi Library (nom file) | |
| The Porticoes of Bologna | Municipal Library of Archiginnasio | |
| Timgad | Roman library | |
| University of Coimbra | Joanine Library | |
| Valletta | National Library of Malta (originated in 1555) | |
| Vatican City | "In 1475, Sixtus IV founded the Vatican Library, which is the first open to the public in Europe; the collections of manuscripts and books, prints, drawings, coins and decorative arts, constantly increased through the centuries, making it an invaluable repository of human culture." (OUV) | |
| Venice and its Lagoon | Biblioteca Marciana; San Lazzaro degli Armeni with its 150000 vol library | |
| Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai | David Sassoon Mechanics Institute and Library; University Library and Convocation Hall (1874-78), designed by England’s famous architect Sir George Gilbert Scott (nom file) | |
| Vienna | Hofburg Library | |
| Villa Adriana (Tivoli) | Greek Library | |
| Wachau Cultural Landscape | Stift Melk's Monastic Library & Göttweig Abbey: The abbey has a library of 130,000 books and manuscripts, and a particularly important collection of religious engravings, besides valuable collections of coins, antiquities, musical manuscripts and natural history, all of which survived the dangers of World War II and its immediate aftermath almost without loss. | |
| Westminster | House of Common's Library in Westminster palace | |
| Yuso and Suso Monasteries | Yuso |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Libraries?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source