7 most beautiful Russian libraries

As you know, Russians are the most widely read nation. And it goes without saying that throughout its vast territory in Russia there are many libraries, both old and fashionable modern urban spaces.

7 PHOTOS

1. Russian State Library in Moscow

Leninka, as Muscovites call it (because it was previously called by the name of Vladimir Lenin), is the most famous and largest library in Russia. Her collection numbers over 47 million pieces. She receives copies of everything that is printed in the country.

2. Library-reading room to them. I.S. Turgenev.

While Leninka has always been designed for academics and study, and you must be over 18 to gain access, Turgenevka became the first reading room in the city to be open to everyone and free of charge. It was opened in 1885 in memory of the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev and was funded by the benefactor Varvara Morozova.

3. The Russian National Library.

According to real bookworms, the ideal library has endless bookshelves that reach the highest ceilings and ladders that you can use to slide down rows of books (like in the movie Beauty and the Beast).

4. Book Chapel.

This library was recently opened in 2016 and looks the same as the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Book Chapel has a collection of over 5,000 facsimiles of hand-made rare books dating from the 16th-19th centuries. Unlike other libraries, you can buy many books here.

5. Central Regional Library. N.V. Gogol.

This library is a Mecca for creative youth, its design and equipment correspond to all the latest trends. There is a large archive of multimedia documents as well as a collection of music and films that can be accessed locally.

6. Scientific library of KFU named after N.I. Lobachevsky.

The library was founded in 1804 at the same time as Kazan University, one of the first and most prestigious universities in Russia (among its graduates are Lev Tolstoy and Vladimir Lenin).

7. Library of Alvar Aalto in Vyborg.

This modernist library building was the work of the Finnish iconic architect Alvar Aalto back in the 1930s. It boasts an unusual design with an emphasis on natural materials and a connection with nature.