Spectacular Libraries: The Clementinum and Strahov Monastery
Three of Europe's loveliest (and oldest) libraries can be found in Prague. The largest, the National Library of the Czech Republic, is in the magnificent Clementinum (Klementinum), a sprawling complex of historic Baroque buildings that once housed a Jesuit College and book collection.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the property and its collections passed to the state, allowing the public the chance to enjoy the spectacular Library Hall with its sumptuous ceiling artwork.
Coincidentally, it was another religious location, the 12th-century Strahov Monastery (Strahovsky kláster), that was to provide the city with perhaps its most magnificent libraries: the Philosophical Library with its exquisite furnishings and ceiling paintings, and the Theological Library consisting of a splendid Baroque room with beautiful painted frescoes and stucco work (the libraries also house numerous rare manuscripts, including the nearly 1,200-year-old Strahov Gospel).