{"id":272708,"date":"2017-09-07T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T11:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mariefranceasia.com\/uncategorized-id\/worlds-beautiful-libraries-272708.html"},"modified":"2017-09-21T15:26:58","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T07:26:58","slug":"worlds-beautiful-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mariefranceasia.com\/id\/galerie-id\/worlds-beautiful-libraries-272708.html","title":{"rendered":"Old is Gold: The world's most beautiful historical libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know that scene in Beauty and the Beast - when the Beast<\/a> surprises a blindfolded Belle with a cavernous library? Yes, that scene. (We\u2019re pretty sure we\u2019re not the only ones who truly resonated with that scene as a child.) If you could quantify Belle\u2019s pure joy as she takes in the sky-high ceilings and seemingly infinite shelves of books, that is exactly how we feel about libraries. <\/p>

At least, the really vintage-looking<\/a>, gilded, frescoed ones that look straight out of a Harry Potter <\/a>film, anyway.\u00a0<\/p>

It\u2019s hard to put a finger on what it is about libraries that makes them so awe-inspiring. Is it the fact that you\u2019re cocooned within volumes of novels stacked on shelves? Maybe. Is it that oddly comforting smell of old paperbacks? Perhaps. In light of our fascination with stunning libraries, we\u2019ve done the footwork to establish the world\u2019s 8 most beautiful vintage libraries. <\/p>

Make no mistake - despite its grandeur and unparalleled architecture, these libraries are historically symbolic as well. Prague's Clementinum Library<\/strong>, for one, was built as far back as 1622 and even carries a collection of books from the time of the Jesuits. And then of course, there's the iconic Bodleian Library<\/strong> in Oxford University that has seen an impressive and prolific list of kings and Nobel Prize winners studying beneath its intricate ceilings.\u00a0<\/p>

Browse our gallery above for the world's most beautiful historical libraries that are most certainly worth a visit in your lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>

Sarah Khan<\/em><\/p>

Photos: Getty Images<\/em><\/p>

Read More:<\/span> <\/h2>

Girl Power: 10 Must-read inspiring books on women<\/a><\/p>

For the Book Lovers: 8 Best bookstores in KL for your literature fix<\/a><\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bibliophiles, take note. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":608,"featured_media":275449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_is_translated":false,"_source_post_url":"","is_displayed_in_hp":false,"displayed_in_hp_after_update":false,"is_thumb_featured":false,"template_without_diapo":"","enable_bloc_resume":false,"bloc_resume_post":[],"ctc_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13215,13086],"tags":[382275,1426022,1426023,1426024],"class_list":["post-272708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations-id","category-galerie-id","tag-books-id","tag-bookstores-id","tag-history-id","tag-library-id"],"yoast_head":"\nOld is Gold: The world's most beautiful historical libraries - Marie France Asia, women's magazine - Indonesia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Old is Gold: The world's most beautiful historical libraries - 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