Biblioteca Joanina

The Biblioteca Joanina is one of the most beautiful old libraries in the world, and it is possible to visit only under tightly controlled conditions that help to preserve it. Commissioned by King João V, from whom it takes its name, it was built between 1717 and 1728 beside the university's old courtyard in Coimbra, and it is a monument to the Baroque taste for splendour and the belief in the power of books. UNESCO listed the university and its surroundings in 2013, and the library is its centrepiece.

The library consists of three interconnected halls, linked by grand arches framed in gilded wood and painted in red and green, so that the viewer looks down a long vista of columns and shelves. The ceilings are painted with trompe l'oeil designs, and the walls are lined with bookcases of carved and gilded wood in several levels, reached by a gallery with slender balustrades. The shelves hold tens of thousands of books from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, bound in leather and parchment, on subjects including theology, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. The woods used for the furniture include rare imported types, and the scale and decoration are intended to impress.

One of the library's famous oddities is the bats. A colony of small bats lives behind the shelves and comes out at night to feed on insects that would otherwise eat the paper and bindings, and to protect the floor and furniture from droppings, the tables are covered with leather cloths each evening and are uncovered in the morning. The method has been used for generations and is a charming example of natural pest control. Another curiosity is that the ground floor of the building was used as the university's own prison, where students and staff who broke the rules were held.

Access is limited. Visitors enter in timed slots of about twenty minutes, in small groups, as part of a combined ticket for the university, and booking ahead is strongly advised, since slots sell out in high season. Photography is not allowed inside, to protect the books and the interior. The visit is brief but unforgettable, and the library is best combined with the rest of the university, including the Pátio das Escolas, the chapel, and the Sala dos Capelos. Allow two to three hours for the full tour.

It suits book lovers, history readers, architecture fans, and anyone interested in Baroque design.