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Moosbruggstrasse 1, St. Gallen, 9000, Switzerland
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of people enjoy staying here
3 Opinions
near rorschach at lake konstanz
Stiftskirche
Stiftskirche
Stiftskirche
What do you think is that? A church? Or a residence of someone very important? Nope. This is a LIBRARY. This is an extraordinary library not only externally. It is also very beautiful and stylish from the inside. Unfotunately it was closed the morning that I dedicated to walking down the streets of Sankt Gallen, so I can not tell you about MY impressions of its interior. But I saw a postcard, and that was an astonishing one!
The Abbey of St. Gall is a monumental complex made by different buildings. You must visit the wonderful Cathedral (Stiftskirche) and the Library (Stiftsbibliothek) inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List from 1983.
The books are ranged on floor-to-ceiling shelves all around. You’re free to wander around and examine the spines – books were originally organized by subject, indicated by the cherubs at the head of capitals around the library, but are now arranged alphabetically. If you open the recessed panels between each bookcase, inside you’ll find registers of books in the nearby shelves with space to leave your name: the library still operates as an ordinary lending library and study centre, with some 140,000 volumes focused on the Middle Ages. Its list of cultural treasures is extraordinary – for a start, there are more Irish manuscripts in St Gallen than there are in Dublin, some fifteen handwritten examples from the seventh century and after, including a Latin manuscript of the Gospels dating from 750. Other works include an astronomical textbook written in 300 BC; copies made in the fifth century of works by Virgil, Horace and other classical authors; texts written by the Venerable Bede in his original Northumbrian language; the oldest book to have survived in German, dating from the eighth century; and a plan of St Gallen monastery drawn on parchment in the early ninth century to serve as a blueprint for construction of new buildings. Various of these and other treasures of the library’s upstairs manuscript room (no public access) are put on display in glass cases dotted around the main library area. An ancient Egyptian mummy in the library dates from 700 BC and was a gift to the mayor of St Gallen at the beginning of the nineteenth century; unsure of what to do with the thing, he plonked it in this corner, where it has sat incongruously ever since.
- Opening hours :
Dec - March :
Mon - Sat : 10:00-12:00 / 13:30-17:00
Sun : 10:00-12:00 / 13:30-16:00
April - Nov :
Mon - Sat : 10:00-17:00
Sun : 10:00-12:00 / 13:30-16:00
Closed 11.11 - 1.12
- Admission :
7F adults, 5F students and seniors, free for children 15 and under
- No photography is allowed.
St. Gallen is an easy train ride from Zurich and other parts of northeast Switzerland. It has a very attractive old town and a covent that is on the UNESCO world heritage list. It is very easy to walk through the town, and I believe that it makes an excellent day trip in any weather. The countryside all around this area is nice, so the train ride should be very pleasant. As far as madmade structures go, St. Gallen has some of the finest in the land.
While preparing more info on St. Gallen I can offer you some apetizer on Säntis, a very nice mountain area nearby. In this way you can have a feeling for the Swiss Alps. Words are left out in front of the images.
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