For some people it’s castles with their noble history and crumbling towers, for others it’s abandoned factories or lost cities.But for those who enjoy reading, a huge beautiful library is a place of endless pleasure. Meet 20 of the biggest and most beautiful libraries around the globe, as presented by Curious Expeditions. You can find this and more fascinating pictures on Candida Hofer’s Libraries book.



Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland



Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Trinity College LIbrary, AKA, The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland

Melk Monastery Library, Melk, Austria

Jay Walker’s Private Library

Rijkmuseum Library, Amsterdam

Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada

Strahov Monastery – Theological Library, Prague, Czech Republic

Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany

Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Wiblingen Monastary Library, Ulm, Germany

Stiftsbibliothek Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg, Austria

Central Library, Seattle

Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria

George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

National Library, Belarus

Riksdagen Library, Swedish Parliament Library, Stockholm, Sweden

Sansovino Library, Venice, Italy

Old British Reading Room, British Museum, London, England

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, US