Abbey Library of Saint Gall
Rococo library hall in the UNESCO-listed abbey precinct of St. Gallen, open daily to visitors.
The Abbey Library of Saint Gall stands inside the walled abbey precinct of St. Gallen, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1983. The monastery was founded in 719 on the site of the hermitage of the Irish monk Gallus, and its library has collected without a break ever since, giving it one of the longest continuous histories in Europe. The holdings amount to roughly 170,000 items, among them about 2,100 manuscripts, half of which were written before the year 1000.
The reading room is a rococo hall built between 1758 and 1767 to designs by Peter Thumb, with inlaid walnut and cherry bookcases, a stuccoed and frescoed ceiling and a parquet floor that visitors cross wearing felt overshoes. The books on show in the hall change with each seasonal exhibition. The same ticket covers the vaulted cellar, where the ninth-century Plan of St Gall and an Egyptian mummy are displayed, and a separate exhibition space in the former abbey buildings.
Highlights
- Rococo hall of 1767 by Peter Thumb, crossed in felt overshoes
- About 2,100 manuscripts, roughly half written before the year 1000
- The ninth-century Plan of St Gall shown in the vaulted cellar
- Part of the UNESCO-listed abbey precinct beside the baroque cathedral
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