The baroque library of Klementinum was made accessible to the public

Prague - The Baroque library of the Prague Klementinum is once again open to the public after more than two years. The wooden library shelves, stucco decoration, stone floor, and metal railings have been restored. The reconstruction cost 11.7 million crowns, said Irena Maňáková, spokesperson for the National Library (NK), today.
    "The Jesuit Baroque library has been reopened to the public since April 1 after revitalization. Tourists saw it for the first time on Sunday. Everything Baroque is in demand among foreigners," Maňáková told ČTK. One of the oldest hall gallery systems in the Czech Republic has been preserved in its original form to this day, making it a typical example of the period arrangement of a Baroque library. The library was completed in 1727, probably according to the plans of the prominent Baroque architect Kilian Ignác Dietzenhofer.
    The Baroque hall is 41 meters long and 12 meters wide. The shelves contain 27,500 volumes from the National Library's collection. The ground floor mainly features foreign-language theological works, while the gallery has general scientific writings. A richly decorated Biblioteca nationalis takes pride of place at the front of the library, where Czech literature was stored. "These are books that are linguistically, originally, or thematically Czech. Biblioteca nationalis is the foundation of the tradition of the current national library," stated Maňáková.
    The wooden shelves required the most extensive restoration work, including the gilding of the bases and capitals. "In the Baroque hall, doors and windows, wooden shelves, wooden floors, stucco, stone floor, and metal railings have been restored and refurbished. New low-current and high-current installations have been made, and fire shutters were installed on the outside of the entrance doors," described Alena Jankovcová from the NK Investment Department. The repairs were carried out in cooperation with heritage preservationists.
    Visitors to the reopened Baroque hall can look forward to the illumination of the entire space. "Under the green top coat, a much more pronounced pink layer was found during the survey, and restoring the stucco to this shade then gave the entire hall a lighter tone," explained Jankovcová.
    To maintain a constant climate in the hall, it will accommodate 50 people per hour. "It will also not be possible to enter the entire platform inside the hall as before, but only the anteroom area," warned Maňáková. Admission is 100 crowns, and students pay half. More information is available at www.klementinum.com.
    The reconstruction of the Baroque library was part of a five-year revitalization plan for the Klementinum. The total cost of the renovation of the former Jesuit college, one of the largest architectural complexes in Prague, is estimated at 1.9 billion crowns.