The oldest libraries in the world are. Ancient libraries of the world

The kings of the ancient kingdoms began to create libraries. Legends tell of amazing libraries Ancient World, such as the library of the Assyrian Kingdom, Babylonian Kingdom, Library of Thebes Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman Libraries, the famous Library of Alexandria.

However, only libraries founded after the 15th century have survived to this day. We want to tell you about them.

Vatican Apostolic Library

The Vatican Apostolic Library (lat. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana) is a library in the Vatican with a rich collection of manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Start of the meeting ( archival documents, liturgical books in the form of lat. scrolls. Volumina) The Vatican Library was founded in the 4th century: then an archive was collected in the Lateran Palace, which was mentioned under Pope Damasus I (384). In the 6th century, the collection of manuscripts began to be monitored Secretary of State Vatican (lat. Primicerius Notariorum), and in the 8th century the position of librarian of the Vatican appeared.

The library, founded in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V, is constantly replenished, and currently its holdings include about 1,600,000 printed books, 150 thousand manuscripts, 8,300 incunabula, more than 100 thousand engravings and geographical maps, 300 thousand coins and medals.

The library includes the Vatican School of Librarians and a laboratory for the restoration and reproduction of important manuscripts (facsimiles).

Vilnius University Library

The history of the university library dates back to the library of the Jesuit college, which, according to the will of King Sigismund Augustus, received after his death on July 7, 1572 a rich collection of books by the bibliophile king.

The library's holdings include over 5.3 million publications, including 178,306 published in the 15th-18th centuries, and over 250 thousand handwritten documents (the oldest are from the 13th century).
Over a million publications are issued annually to 16 thousand readers (1998). The growth of funds at the end of the 20th century was about 130,000 copies per year.

Maintains connections with 380 libraries and scientific institutions from 55 countries (1998). Electronic catalog since 1993, the first in the Baltic countries.

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is a library at the University of Oxford, which challenges the Vatican for the right to be called the oldest in Europe, and the British for the title of the largest book collection in Great Britain. Since 1610 (officially - since 1662) it has been granted the right to receive a legal copy of all publications published in the country.
The library is named after Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613), a famous collector of ancient manuscripts who served in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Bishop Thomas de Cobham (d. 1327) should be considered its founder, who created a small collection of books at the university, chained to shelves to prevent them from being taken outside the building.

In 1410, this library came under the full control of the university, and a little later Duke Humphrey of Gloucester became concerned about expanding the university collection. Thanks to his care, in 1450 the library moved to new, larger premises, which have survived to this day. Under the first Tudors, the university became impoverished, Edward VI expropriated its book collections, even the bookcases themselves were sold off.

In 1602, Thomas Bodley not only restored the library, but also helped it occupy new premises. He presented his book collection to the university, and was concerned about acquiring books from Turkey and even China. Over the following centuries, several buildings were built to house the library's collections, including the Radcliffe Rotunda (1737-69), a masterpiece of British Palladianism.

National Library of France

National Library(French Bibliothèque Nationale or BNF) is the richest collection of French-language literature in the world and the largest library in France. Its mission is to compile collections, especially copies of works published in France which must, by law, be deposited there, preserve them, and make them available to the public. The library publishes a catalog of references, collaborates with other national and international institutions, and participates in scientific programs.

Ambrosian Library

Construction began in 1603, and the library was opened to the public on December 8, 1609 (after the Bodleian Library, which opened in Oxford in 1602, this is the second public library Europe). A printing house was attached to the library, and a school of classical languages ​​was also located here. In addition, the library included the Academy and the Pinacoteca, founded by the same Federico Borromeo.

Laurentian Library

The Laurenziana Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) in Florence, Italy, is known as a library containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. IN reading room Laurentian Library, a unique monument High Renaissance everything is made according to Michelangelo's drawings: patterned red terracotta floor, benches, desk cabinets, stained glass windows and ceiling.
In 1571, the library, commissioned by Grand Duke Cosimo I Michelangelo Buonarotti, was opened to the public. Cosimo kindly allowed the Florentines to use his books: the codices that made up the Medici's private library were displayed in desk cabinets. Previously, the covers were removed from the books and identical bindings were made from pinkish leather with the Medici coat of arms.

Books were attached to music stands with chains for safety. This is how they appear before library visitors even now. Among the treasures are the works of Tacitus, Pliny, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Quintilian, which have survived from antiquity, as well as the Code of Justinian, rewritten shortly after its publication in the middle of the 6th century. The library also contains manuscripts of Petrarch and Boccaccio and the original autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Royal Library Escorial

The builder of the Baroque library, completed in 1584, was Juan de Guerrera, who also designed the shelving. The library is a gigantic hall 55 meters long. The vaulted ceiling was painted by Pellegrino Tibaldi, who depicted allegories of Rhetoric, Dialectics, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography and Astronomy.

Trinity College Library

The oldest library in Ireland is part of Trinity College, founded by Elizabeth I in 1592. Now she has the status state book depository: A copy of all books published in Great Britain and Ireland is sent here. Trinity's main treasure is the so-called Book of Kells, the text of the four gospels written in Latin, a masterpiece of calligraphy and book miniatures of the 9th century. In addition to books and manuscripts, the library houses the oldest bagpipes in Ireland, dating back to the 15th century.
The Long Room, the main hall of Trinity College's library, originally had a flat ceiling and books were housed only on the lower level. IN mid-19th centuries, the shelves were overflowing, so it was necessary to give the ceiling a vaulted shape and install shelving on the second tier.

Library of Ossus in the film " star Wars. Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" - exact copy The Long Room, the main hall of the library. The administration of the Trinity College library wanted to sue the filmmakers, but in the end the case never took off.

The review was prepared based on materials from open Internet sources.

08.09.2014 0 7262

What world libraries of the past and present can be considered the largest treasuries of human thought? Over the entire existence of our civilization, there have not been so many of them - and the most famous of them have sunk into oblivion.

THE BEGINNING OF TIME

The most ancient libraries are usually called the repositories of clay tablets of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization. They are more than four and a half thousand years old. The first repository of papyrus books appeared only 12 centuries later. It became the library of Ancient Egypt, founded during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II. Another equally famous “ancient book depository is associated with the name of Alexander the Great. The emperor founded a city in the Nile Delta and named it after himself.

Later a library was built there, which was called the Alexandria Library. It was headed by the greatest scientists: Eratosthenes, Zenodotus, Aristarchus of Samos, Callimachus, etc. By the way, it was under Callimachus that for the first time in history a catalog of existing manuscripts was created, which was later regularly replenished. Thanks to this, she became the first prototype of the familiar to us, modern library. According to various estimates, it contained from 100 to 700 thousand volumes.

In addition to the works of ancient Greek literature and science that formed its basis, there were books in oriental languages. Quite a few of them were translated into Greek. Thus, the interpenetration and mutual enrichment of cultures occurred. The library was visited by ancient Greek mathematicians and philosophers, in particular Euclid and Eratosthenes.

In those days, it even eclipsed one of the recognized wonders of the world - the Faros Lighthouse, located there, in Alexandria. Unfortunately, the library has not survived. Some died in fire back in 48 BC, during the capture of the city by Julius Caesar. It was finally destroyed in 646 AD, during the time of the victorious Arab caliph Omar, who captured Egypt. It is he who is credited with the words: “If these books repeat the Koran, then they are not needed, if not, then they are harmful.”

However, there is an encouraging version that the funds Library of Alexandria were not destroyed, but the Arabs took possession of them as victors. It is no coincidence that UNESCO has now developed a plan for the restoration of the Library of Alexandria, primarily from the period of Antiquity and early Christianity. For this purpose, surviving manuscripts from surrounding countries will be collected and copied.

WHO CREATED IVAN THE TERRIBLE LIBRARY?

The disappeared library of Ivan IV the Terrible, also known as “Liberia” (from the Latin liber - “book”), still haunts historians, researchers of antiquity and all sorts of adventurers. For several centuries it has been the source of numerous rumors and speculations. It is also interesting that even the meeting rare books is called the name of Ivan the Terrible, but it came to Moscow long before the birth of the Tsar. On the contrary, under Grozny, a priceless treasure was lost, perhaps forever.

Before it came to Rus', the owner of the book collection was the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the emperor and his niece, Princess Sophia Palaiologos, fled to Rome. At the same time, the main part of the library, which included volumes in ancient Greek, Latin and Hebrew, was transported there on the ship. The library, which had been collected bit by bit over millennia, arrived in Moscow as the dowry of Sophia, who was given in marriage to the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (grandfather of Ivan the Terrible).

In addition to books related to spiritual and church topics, scientific treatises and poems of ancient classics occupied a significant place in it. According to rumors, "Liberia" contained books on magic and witchcraft practices. Standing apart were priceless volumes that told about the history of human civilization and the origin of life on Earth.

Many researchers believe that the basis of the main book collection Ancient Rus' became just part of the lost Library of Alexandria. Sources report that even under the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III - the son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus and the future father of Ivan the Terrible - all manuscripts were translated into Russian.

The same sources indicate that this was done by the learned Athonite monk Maxim the Greek (1470-1556), a famous publicist and translator of that time. He was discharged from Constantinople with a specific purpose: to translate books from languages ​​​​unknown in Rus' into Church Slavonic, which is what he did long years. And so that he could not tell anyone about what he had seen, he was never released from Rus' again.

Later, the royal library was constantly replenished by Ivan the Terrible - he personally bought books brought from all over the world. There is a hypothesis that the king was able to obtain the legendary book collection of Yaroslav the Wise, which was stored for several centuries in the dungeons of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.

However, some experts express doubts about scientific value lost library of Ivan the Terrible. Thus, Academician D.S. Likhachev, one of the world’s largest experts on Ancient Rus', believed that its importance was greatly exaggerated, since “a significant part of this collection consisted of church books, which Sophia Paleolog brought to Rus' from Byzantium to pray on her native language" The academician also believed that it would be more important for us to save book treasures that are perishing these days.

850 KILOMETERS OF SHELVES

One of the most famous libraries of our time is the Library of Congress in Washington. Its dimensions are truly enormous: the total length bookshelves is 850 km! They (as of 2003) contain over 130 million storage units (books, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, photographs, sound recordings and microfilms). The annual growth of the fund ranges from 1 to 3 million units.

This library is the largest in the world in the history of mankind. The birth of the book depository dates back to January 24, 1800, when, on the initiative of US President John Adams, Congress allocated 5 thousand dollars for its completion. It is noteworthy that the Russian library collection contains over 200 thousand books and more than 10 thousand various magazines. Stored here great amount Russians printed publications for the period from 1708 to 1800, as well as many works of Russian art literature of the 19th century century.

The famous library of the Krasnoyarsk merchant G.V. Yudin is also located there. It includes books on history, ethnography, archeology, handwritten texts on the exploration of Siberia, all of Pushkin’s lifetime publications and even full meeting Russian magazines of the 18th century! The merchant sold his unique book and magazine collection to the Library of Congress in 1907.

FIFTH IN THE WORLD

Today, UNESCO considers libraries with holdings exceeding 14 million items to be large. 24 book depositories in the world meet this condition. In this honorary list, Russia is represented by six book temples - three such libraries are located in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg and one in Novosibirsk.

The foundation of the largest Russian State Library in the country was laid by the famous private collection State Chancellor Count N.P. Rumyantsev. By decree of Nicholas I of March 23, 1828, with its library, it came under the jurisdiction of the state. In 1831, it was opened as a public institution in St. Petersburg. And after 30 years, the museum was transported from St. Petersburg to Moscow and began to work in accordance with the “Regulations on the Moscow Public Museum and the Rumyantsev Museum” approved by Alexander II.

STORAGE OF SECRET KNOWLEDGE

The world's oldest Vatican Apostolic Library is also of great interest. It was founded in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V. Today its holdings include about 1,600,000 printed books, 150,000 manuscripts, 8,300 incunabula, more than 100,000 engravings and geographical maps, 300,000 coins and medals. The Vatican Library also houses a rich collection of Renaissance manuscripts.

It is not without reason that it is considered a storage facility secret knowledge humanity. The library has rooms where neither journalists, nor historians, nor specialists in other sciences are allowed, although the huge number of ancient and medieval manuscripts makes it the most attractive for historians of all times.

Alexander VOROBYEV

Libraries have long become an integral part of the culture of every nation. But once upon a time, only the richest and most influential people owned collections of books, and only select readers were allowed into the repositories. What library can be called the oldest in the world? Historians consider it a huge collection of clay books that belonged to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who lived more than 2.5 thousand years ago - after all, all the copies there had already been sorted and cataloged.

I liked the winged bulls more

In 1847, the English explorer Austin Henry Layard, in search of ancient monuments, began excavating Kuyundzhik Hill on the left bank of the Tigris River. Under a layer of earth, he discovered the remains of a destroyed palace, erected on an artificial terrace. Among the items ancient art Layard found large basalt stones with cuneiform inscriptions, after deciphering which it turned out that the archaeologist managed to find Nineveh, ancient capital Assyria, and the palace itself belonged to its ruler, King Ashurbanipal, who lived in 685-627 BC.

In addition to a large number of surviving figurines, seals and even sculptures, the workers led by Layard brought to the surface about 30 thousand fire- or sun-baked clay tablets with cuneiform writing. Layard himself was not too interested in them; the researcher was much more attracted by the surviving works of art (such as stone winged bulls with human faces), which he sent to London. Nevertheless, the tablets also moved to the British Museum, where they simply lay in storage for several decades.

In 1852, Layard's assistants found approximately the same number of inscribed clay tablets in another wing of the palace, and they were also taken to London. In the British Museum, both parts of the collection of clay texts were placed in a common storage facility, so it is now impossible to determine in which place certain tablets were found - but the main thing is that the texts, consisting of several parts, became scattered, and this made further research very difficult.

In 1854, Layard organized a Crystal Palace an exhibition of his finds, the main exhibits of which were reconstructed statues and bas-reliefs. The event aroused widespread interest in Assyrian culture, and many scientists began to decipher its writing. After reading the first clay manuscripts, it became clear that they were the main treasure of the discovered ancient city.

Like a wine cellar

The collection of clay tablets turned out to be the oldest library in the world, created at the behest of King Ashurbanipal. During his reign, Nineveh reached the pinnacle of power, there was no longer anyone to fight with, and the king devoted all his energy to collecting texts.

First of all, Ashurbanipal decided to collect any documents of the state. He sent his people to all the settlements and temple archives, who were supposed to copy the texts there and deliver them to the king. Some signs reproduce much more early monuments writing and contain information about events that happened hundreds and thousands of years before the time of copying.

The library itself was very different from modern book depositories and was similar in appearance to wine Vault. There were benches made of clay on the floor, with large clay vessels on them, where tablets were placed. The same vessels stood on the shelves. There were almost no trees in Mesopotamia, so the shelves were also made of clay. The vessels that stood on them were smaller in size; short texts were stored there - songs, royal decrees, letters, etc.

At the same time, the collection of texts was a real library. It had a catalog where data about any book was recorded: title, number of tablets, as well as the section of knowledge to which the manuscript belongs. A clay tag was attached to each shelf indicating the section and the names of the books placed on it. Above the entrance to the vault there was an inscription threatening those who would steal or damage the books - they would face inevitable punishment from the gods, and the names of the villains and their heirs would be forgotten forever.

Evidence of the Flood

The most a large number of texts belonged to the field of magic. The powerful king was very interested in how to find out the events of the future and maintain power through communication with higher powers. Therefore, many clay tablets contain spells, religious rituals and prayers. But in the library there was also a place for mathematical works, works on astronomy, history, medicine, as well as dictionaries foreign words, because trade relations connected Assyria with many states. Some books were copied from much older Sumerian or Babylonian texts, the originals of which have not survived to this day.

Among the clay manuscripts there were even the first geographical maps! They displayed a fairly large territory from the state of Urartu (the modern Armenian Highlands) to Egypt - with the names of countries and cities.

The library also contained works of art, in particular, a copy of the recording of the Sumerian legend about fairy tale hero Gilgamesh, the original of which, according to scientists, was created in XVIII-XVII centuries BC.

In 1872, translator George Smith announced that one of the tablets contained an excerpt from the narrative of the Flood. The Daily Telegraph gave him funds for a separate expedition to Nineveh to find the missing parts of the book - and Smith successfully did this. Subsequent linguistic studies proved that this is a copy of oldest book, written in the Sumerian city of Uruk (called Erech in the Bible) almost three thousand years ago, is further confirmation that the Flood was a real event.

Assyrian pioneer printers

Scientists believe that the first clay books appeared among the ancient Sumerians. First, blanks were made, the dimensions of which were approximately 32 by 22 centimeters and the thickness was 2.5 centimeters. For ease of writing, they were marked with parallel lines using a stretched thread. Then the symbols were pressed onto the tablets with a pointed stick. Usually they covered both sides of the workpiece, and sometimes even its ends, with the last line of the previous tablet being reproduced at the beginning of the next one. Under the text, the scribe drew a deep transverse line, and under it - the name of the book to which this fragment belonged, as well as serial number signs.

If work had to be interrupted, the workpiece was wrapped in a wet rag and stored in this form. The completed tablet was fired in a kiln or dried in the sun.

The Assyrians adopted from much more ancient people technology for creating clay books - but they made changes to it that can be called revolutionary.

The study of tablets from the library of Ashurbanipal helped scientists make an astonishing discovery: it turned out that printing already existed during the time of the Assyrian kings. Small documents that had to be sent to all settlements of the country - for example, state decrees - were not copied by hand. To make them, a wooden matrix was cut out and clay slips were made from it.

Mysterious and wise people

The oldest library in the world contributed to the study of the mysterious, which is considered one of the most ancient on our planet. It originated in the valley of the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates six thousand years ago. Where these people came from is still unknown. Their language is unlike any other in the world, including the languages ​​of the Semitic tribes living next to them. The Sumerians themselves claim in their legends that they arrived from the large island of Dilmun, but their homeland has not yet been found. The fact that they most likely came by sea is evidenced by the fact that their first settlements were built at river mouths. In addition, all the most important gods in their mythology are associated with the sea element, and the main occupation of the Sumerians was shipping.

It is unclear where the people came from and possessed amazing knowledge in the field of astronomy (including the fact that the Earth was born as a result of a cosmic catastrophe), medicine, mathematics, architecture and other scientific disciplines. Many scientists claim that it was the Sumerians who invented the wheel, the potter's wheel, and even brewing. Moreover, due to the complexity of their writing (in the writing of the Sumerians in different time there were from 600 to 1000 characters) researchers for a long time were unable to read the texts that have survived to this day. And in the library of Ashurbanipal, dictionaries for translation from Sumerian into the language of the Assyrians have been preserved, as well as scientific works, dedicated to the interpretation of difficult passages in Sumerian texts. They helped a lot in deciphering ancient writing.

Gold is more valuable than books

Ashurbanipal was the last great king of Assyria. Already 15 years after his death, hordes of nomads invaded the country - mainly Medes, who were supported by warriors of the states conquered by the Assyrians. Talks about the capture of Nineveh ancient legend: Residents of the capital, surrounded by impregnable walls, successfully repelled enemy attacks. Then the besiegers dammed the Tigris, the water overflowed its banks and flooded the city. The last king of Assyria, in order not to fall into the hands of his enemies, set fire to the palace and burned in its flames.

The city was almost completely plundered, but the clay tablets, unlike gold and jewelry, did not attract the attention of illiterate nomads. Moreover, the second-burnt letters acquired additional strength and have survived to this day. And a few centuries later, hills formed over the ruins - and the world’s oldest library disappeared underground.

Nikolay Mikhailov

The kings of the ancient kingdoms began to create libraries. Legends tell of stunning libraries of the Ancient World, such as the library of the Assyrian Kingdom, the Babylonian Kingdom, the Library of Thebes in Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Greek and Roman Libraries, and the famous Library of Alexandria.

However, only libraries founded after the 15th century have survived to this day. We want to tell you about them.

Vatican Apostolic Library

The Vatican Apostolic Library (lat. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana) is a library in the Vatican with a rich collection of manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The collection (archival documents, liturgical books in the form of Latin Volumina scrolls) of the Vatican Library began in the 4th century: then an archive was collected in the Lateran Palace, mentioned even under Pope Damasus I (384). In the 6th century, the Vatican Secretary of State (Latin: Primicerius Notariorum) began overseeing the collection of manuscripts, and in the 8th century the position of Vatican librarian appeared.

The library, founded in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V, is constantly being replenished, and currently its holdings include about 1,600,000 printed books, 150 thousand manuscripts, 8,300 incunabula, more than 100 thousand engravings and geographical maps, 300 thousand coins and medals.

The library includes the Vatican School of Librarians and a laboratory for the restoration and reproduction of important manuscripts (facsimiles).

Vilnius University Library

The history of the university library dates back to the library of the Jesuit college, which, according to the will of King Sigismund Augustus, received after his death on July 7, 1572 a rich collection of books by the bibliophile king.

The library's holdings include over 5.3 million publications, including 178,306 published in the 15th-18th centuries, and over 250 thousand handwritten documents (the oldest are from the 13th century).
Over a million publications are issued annually to 16 thousand readers (1998). The growth of funds at the end of the 20th century was about 130,000 copies per year.

Maintains connections with 380 libraries and scientific institutions from 55 countries (1998). Electronic catalog since 1993, the first in the Baltic countries.

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is a library at the University of Oxford, which challenges the Vatican for the right to be called the oldest in Europe, and the British for the title of the largest book collection in Great Britain. Since 1610 (officially - since 1662) it has been granted the right to receive a legal copy of all publications published in the country.
The library is named after Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613), a famous collector of ancient manuscripts who served in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Bishop Thomas de Cobham (d. 1327) should be considered its founder, who created a small collection of books at the university, chained to shelves to prevent them from being taken outside the building.

In 1410, this library came under the full control of the university, and a little later Duke Humphrey of Gloucester became concerned about expanding the university collection. Thanks to his care, in 1450 the library moved to new, larger premises, which have survived to this day. Under the first Tudors, the university became impoverished, Edward VI expropriated its book collections, even the bookcases themselves were sold off.

In 1602, Thomas Bodley not only restored the library, but also helped it occupy new premises. He presented his book collection to the university, and was concerned about acquiring books from Turkey and even China. Over the following centuries, several buildings were built to house the library's collections, including the Radcliffe Rotunda (1737-69), a masterpiece of British Palladianism.

National Library of France

The National Library (French Bibliothèque Nationale or BNF) is the richest collection of French-language literature in the world and the largest library in France. Its mission is to compile collections, especially copies of works published in France which must, by law, be deposited there, preserve them, and make them available to the public. The library publishes a reference catalog, collaborates with other national and international institutions, and participates in scientific programs.

Ambrosian Library

Construction began in 1603, and the library opened to the public on December 8, 1609 (after the Bodleian Library, which opened in Oxford in 1602, it is the second public library in Europe). A printing house was attached to the library, and a school of classical languages ​​was also located here. In addition, the library included the Academy and the Pinacoteca, founded by the same Federico Borromeo.

Laurentian Library

The Laurenziana Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) in Florence, Italy, is known as a library containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. In the reading room of the Laurentian Library, a unique monument of the High Renaissance, everything is made according to Michelangelo's drawings: patterned red terracotta floor, benches, desk cabinets, stained glass windows and ceiling.
In 1571, the library, commissioned by Grand Duke Cosimo I Michelangelo Buonarotti, was opened to the public. Cosimo kindly allowed the Florentines to use his books: the codices that made up the Medici's private library were displayed in desk cabinets. Previously, the covers were removed from the books and identical bindings were made from pinkish leather with the Medici coat of arms.

Books were attached to music stands with chains for safety. This is how they appear before library visitors even now. Among the treasures are the works of Tacitus, Pliny, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Quintilian, which have survived from antiquity, as well as the Code of Justinian, rewritten shortly after its publication in the middle of the 6th century. The library also contains manuscripts of Petrarch and Boccaccio and the original autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Royal Library of El Escorial

The builder of the Baroque library, completed in 1584, was Juan de Guerrera, who also designed the shelving. The library is a gigantic hall 55 meters long. The vaulted ceiling was painted by Pellegrino Tibaldi, who depicted allegories of Rhetoric, Dialectics, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography and Astronomy.

Trinity College Library

The oldest library in Ireland is part of Trinity College, founded by Elizabeth I in 1592. Now it has the status of a state book depository: a copy of all books published in Great Britain and Ireland is transferred here. Trinity's main treasure is the so-called Book of Kells, the text of the four gospels written in Latin, a masterpiece of calligraphy and book miniatures of the 9th century. In addition to books and manuscripts, the library houses the oldest bagpipes in Ireland, dating back to the 15th century.
The Long Room, the main hall of Trinity College's library, originally had a flat ceiling and books were housed only on the lower level. In the middle of the 19th century, the shelves became overcrowded, so it was necessary to give the ceiling a vaulted shape and install shelving on the second tier.

The Library of Ossus in the movie "Star Wars" Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" is an exact replica of the Long Room, the main hall of the library. The administration of the Trinity College library wanted to sue the filmmakers, but in the end the case never took off.

The review was prepared based on materials from open Internet sources.

A library is not just a place where books are read in silence, it is a temple of thought, a museum of history. In these institutions the most various works writings and seals intended for public use. We present to your attention the TOP 10 oldest libraries in the world.

The first place in the ranking of the TOP 10 oldest libraries in the world is taken by Vatican Apostolic Library. It was founded at the beginning of the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V and houses the largest number of manuscripts from the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. Today, the Vatican Library houses 150 thousand manuscripts, more than 200 thousand engravings and geographical maps, about 300 thousand medals and coins, and most importantly, about two million printed books. According to rumors, in the premises of this library there are a huge number of secret rooms, to which only a select few have access. Officially, the library is open for free use by scientific and research work. But in reality, no more than 150 researchers per day can gain access to these walls. Among the numerous books that still fill the Vatican Apostolic Library are ancient manuscripts of works by Cicero, Terence, Virgil, letters of Petrarch, Michelangelo, Luther, as well as a rare example of the Bible printed by Gutenberg in the mid-15th century. The interior halls are decorated with frescoes.

One of the oldest libraries in the world is – Bodleian Library. It is located in the UK at the University of Oxford. Many experts are confident that this particular library is the oldest in Europe and the largest in Britain. This was facilitated by a decree issued in 1610, according to which all books published in the country had to send one sample here. Nowadays the Bodleian Library is named after Thomas Bodley, who was a diplomat under Queen Elizabeth and donated many books and ancient manuscripts to the library.

National Library of Malta was founded in 1555 by the 48th Master of the Order of Saint John, Claude de la Single. It was he who issued a decree according to which, after the death of the knights, their personal books became the property of the Order. The peak of development of the National Library of Malta occurred during the reign of the bailiff Louis Guirene de Tensin. Thanks to his efforts, the library received a deed of gift from Emperor Charles to King Baldwin of Jerusalem. In addition, within the walls of this library are kept rare samples of books, minutes of meetings of the Order of St. John, as well as many documents about members of the order. Since 1812, part of the library has been open to the public.

National Library Czech Republic was founded in 1366. Its building is the second largest in Prague. It is located in the city center, in the Stare Mesto quarter. National Czech library is part of the Clementinum. This is a complex of baroque buildings of the Jesuit college, occupying an area of ​​20 thousand square meters. In one year, this library serves about one million readers. It stores more than 6 million books and ancient documents. It is worth noting that the National Library of the Czech Republic was one of the first in Europe to begin digitizing books back in 1992. On average, the collection of this library is replenished with 70 thousand new items.

Bavarian State Library in Munich was founded in 1558 by Duke Albrecht of Wittelsbach. It contains manuscripts from the largest collection of incanubula in Europe. In addition, the funds of this library store more than 9 million books, more than 50 thousand printed publications and about 90 thousand manuscripts. To date, the Bavarian State Library has managed to digitize 35 thousand books, which is about 103 terabytes. There are about 3 thousand visitors to the reading rooms every day. 130 volumes have been provided for their use reference books. During World War II, the Bavarian State Library building was destroyed by 80%, and about half a million books were lost forever.

Royal Library of Belgium located in Brussels on the Mount of Arts, its origins date back to the 15th century, when the Burgundian nobility began collecting manuscripts. In 1559, by order of Philip II, they were delivered to Brussels. Since then, the book reserves have been replenished, but they could find their place only in 1837, when the Royal Library was formed. In 1969, the library moved to a new building, 67 thousand square meters. About 8 million books, periodicals and 6 special collections are stored on 150 kilometer shelves.

Seventh place in the ranking of the Top 10 oldest libraries in the world is occupied by Austrian National Library. It was founded in 1368 in Vienna at the Hofbug Palace, the former residence of the Habsburg imperial family. It houses more than 7.5 million copies of books, about 200 thousand papyri dating from the 15th century BC, books from the 6th century, as well as paintings, globes and scores famous composers Bruckner and Strauss.

The oldest library in the world is located in British museums London. Library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal was founded in the 7th century BC and discovered in 1851 by archaeologist Austin Henry during excavations on the banks of the Euphrates. The king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal, spoke several languages, was an excellent astronomer, mathematician, and managed to create a library with more than 30 thousand clay tablets. 25 thousand clay tablets have survived to this day. Preserved ancient artifacts due to the fact that during the Median raid the library was buried under the ruins of the palace. Among the records in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal there is a description of the political events of that time, legislative documents, prophecies, descriptions of religious rituals, as well as songs and prayers.

In ninth place in the ranking of the Top 10 oldest libraries in the world is monastery library Saint Catherine, dating back to 565. It is located in Egypt at the foot of Mount Sinai. The library was officially founded in 1734 by Archbishop Nikifor. Due to the fact that since its foundation the monastery has never been conquered or destroyed, it has a huge collection of manuscripts and icons. The library collections of the St. Catherine Monastery contain more than 3 thousand manuscripts, 1,700 scrolls, more than five thousand books, among which are the first copies of printing. Of particular value are the manuscripts: Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century and Codex Syriac of the 5th century with quotations from the Bible. In addition to books, the library of St. Catherine's Monastery contains historical documents, gold seals and charters of the Byzantine emperors and twelve sheets of one of ancient texts Bible.

Closes the ranking of the TOP 10 oldest libraries in the world National Library in France. Today, this library has the largest collection of French-language literature in the world and is one of the largest in the world. At first, the building of the National Library of France was located in the center of Paris. Today, the old building houses ancient manuscripts and a hall with medals. The main books are in the library located on the left bank of the Seine River. The repository, built in the shape of open books, stores 14 million books, 12 million engravings and drawings, 530 thousand coins, as well as about 900 thousand maps and plans. Every year, 1.4 million readers come to the National Library of France. The budget of this institution is 254 million euros per year. The library employs 2,651 employees. The total length of the shelves is 395 kilometers.