Toledo in Search of Books in Europe: The Library in the Castle (01:17)
Found me went to the ancient city of Toledo in Spain, the old leader left me a message: "Almost every small hotel in Toledo has a roof roof, from dusk to night, a glass of red wine and a cigarette, near the church, bell tower, street alley, far stone bridge, monastery, as if the entire history of Spain is at your feet." ”
I didn't go to the rooftop of the small hotel, but I sat in the library of The Castle of Toledo, holding a copy of Don Quixote, looking at this medieval ancient city that seemed to be frozen by time.
The ancient city of Toledo, with the Toledo Castle in the middle
Located 70 km south of Madrid, this small city has experienced Roman, Visigothic and Arab rule. In the 11th century, Carlos V made it the royal capital of Spain, and the next 500 years were the most glorious era of Toledo and the most powerful period in Spain. Cervantes' wife was born in Toledo, and Cervantes was full of affection for the small city, and often mentioned it in his works.
It was also my first visit to a library converted from a castle! Toledo Castle is a stone castle and an iconic building of Toledo, which can be seen from all sides of this small town. In the 3rd century AD, the castle was a Roman palace, and later carlos V and Philip II both settled here. The main body of the current castle was built in the 16th century. The castle has four quadrangular towers, which are modest but imposing. The façade of the castle preserves the Renaissance architectural style to this day. During the Spanish Civil War, Colonel José Moscardó held the castle to resist the siege of the Spanish Second Republic army. The castle became a symbol of Spanish nationalism for a time.
Toledo Castle
Today, part of the castle is a military museum, and the other part is the "Biblioteca de Castilla-La Mancha Library". Toledo is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Castile and La Mancha, hence the name of the library.
Entrance to the Library of Stilla-La Mancha
The library was completed in 1998 and is free and open to all. Librarian Carmen Toribio took me on a tour of the library in the castle and introduced me to the most precious collection in the library, the Borbon-Florenzana collection.
Librarian Carmen Torribio stands in front of the "Borbon-Florenzana" exhibition room
Published in the 16th and 19th centuries, these books include about 1,000 manuscripts, 420 scriptures, and more than 100,000 books, covering a wide range of topics such as religion, science, geography, and art. The collection comes from two main sources: partly from the collection of Cardinal Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana, who in 1773 created the Archbishop's Palace Library on the orders of King Carlos III, which was open to the public and became one of the first public libraries in history; and partly from Luis Antonio, Bishop of Toledo The son of de Borbón, Luis María Borbón, donated his father's collection of books in 1807. In the mid-19th century, the two books were deposited in the Archbishop's Palace and transferred to the Santa Cruz Hospital in 1919. After the end of the Spanish Civil War, a grant from the university helped the books move into the "House of Culture." But because of the lack of space there, people had to move them from the "House of Culture" to the chapel of the old Monastery of Santa Fe. In 1998, the books finally "moved into" the Castilla-La Mancha Library.
Booth "Borbon-Florenzana"
In addition to the precious ancient books, I was also attracted by the bookshelves in the "Bolbon-Florenzana" exhibition room, which occupy the four walls and are stunning with exquisite carvings. Carmen told me that the shelves, which also belonged to the Archbishop's Palace, were moved into this exhibition room in 1998. In addition to preserving ancient books, this exhibition room will also be used for various art exhibitions, but the time to open to the public is extremely limited.
There are several areas in the library where you can sit and read a book, and my favorite is the row of sofa seats by the window, where you can sit and look out, and you can see the ancient city style. Even visitors can walk straight into this library and sit there reading and enjoying the scenery without having to apply for a card. In the face of the vicissitudes of the beauty of reading a favorite book, why do you want it?
The promenade leading to the reading room
The library's main reading room
bookshelf
New books on display in the library
Sit in front of the window of the Library of Stilla-La Mancha and see the ancient city
(Cui Ying: Journalist, documentary filmmaker, columnist, PhD from the University of Edinburgh, loves walking and literature, likes to collect old illustration books from all over the world, and has published books such as "British Illustrators" and "British Illustration Book Collection". ）