Did you know that you can visit a real-life fairytale library in Austria? It’s called Admont Abbey Library and it’s the world’s largest monastic library that sits within a monastery of Benedictine monks who have been practicing their faith here for nearly 1,000 years. Many people call this Renaissance gallery of tomes the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ and it has been voted many times as the most beautiful library on earth. The library was built for the Benedictine monks to study, and practice philosophy and theology. Miraculously, the library and its contents survived the Great Admont Fire of 1865 but it has been restored over time. The gallery is split up into three parts with cupolas and seven ceiling frescos that date back to the Renaissance. There are 48 windows that light the space with natural daylight. As well as the numerous bookshelves, there are many statues and reliefs that decorate the hall. Admont Abbey Library has over 70,000 books on display in their collection that you can view, but beyond the surface collection, the abbey actually has over 200,000 books in its archives. Source: https://thirdeyetraveller.com/admont-abbey-library-beauty-and-the-beast/