Abbey Library of Saint Gall

7 Libraries Set Inside UNESCO World Heritage Sites | Condé Nast Traveler

"Housed within the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gallen, a site with roots in an 8th-century monastic settlement, this is one of Europe’s oldest continuous learning spaces. Its mid-18th-century rococo hall was designed to reflect the abbey’s long tradition of scholarship, and a collection of around 170,000 items includes illuminated manuscripts, early medieval texts in Latin and Old High German, and the famed Plan of St. Gall. Carved wooden galleries, stuccoed detailing, and curved bookcases are part of a design meant to echo the monastery’s intellectual order. Visitors don soft felt slippers to protect the centuries-old parquet floor, access is ticketed, and rotating exhibitions limit how many works are on view at one time." - Navya Verma