After three years of renovations, Egypt has reopened the doors to one of the world's oldest libraries in Saint Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula. The library has a gigantic collection of early Christian texts.
Image: Manuela Manay/Fotolia
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The ancient library of the Greek-Orthodox Saint Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula held its reopening ceremony on Saturday.
The 6th-century building, officially called Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai, houses a collection of more than 3,000 manuscripts, most of them written in Greek. But also handwritten documents in Arabic, ancient Syriac, Georgian, Hebrew, Armenian and Slavonic are kept there. Some of the manuscripts are among Christianity's oldest documents, for example, parts of a handwritten Bible dating to the 4th century.
According to the director general of Archaeological Studies in Sinai, Abdel-Rahim Rihan, the library is only topped by the Vatican's library in terms of importance for early Christian documents.
Visitors can once again admire one of the world's oldest icons in the apse of the basilicaImage: picture-alliance/AP/S. Magdy
The renovation of an early Christian mosaic in the monastery's basilica also was completed. "Today's reopening is a message of security and peace to the entire world," said Egypt's Minister of Antiquities Chaled al-Anani.
Saint Catherine's Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as one of the most important tourist destination in Egypt. The government is trying to strengthen the tourism industry that was damaged by political unrest in relation to the Arab Spring in 2011 and by several terrorist attacks.
In April, a deadly attack occurred in the vicinity of the monastery. The so-called "Islamic State" claimed responsibility, .
Our picture gallery shows some of the world's most beautiful libraries.
The world's most breathtaking libraries
On Libraries Day, we showcase some of the world's most impressive spaces for reading and losing ourselves in literature of all sorts.
Image: Weber/Eibner-Pressefoto/picture alliance
Designing for community
The Central Library Oodi in Helsinki is a designer lover's dream. The architecture of the three-story building highlights Finland's natural world, with a wood-clad exterior and a wavy shape that resembles snow drifts. With a movie theater and sauna inside, the library built to mark the country's centenary is about more than just books.
Image: Tuomas Uusheimo
Rising from the ashes
The Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar got its present name in 1991. It had previously been called simply the "Herzogliche Bibliothek" ("The Ducal Library") for 300 years. The building with its famous rococo hall (above) was partially destroyed in a fire, but it reopened on October 24, 2007.
Image: Jan Woitas/ZB/picture alliance
The 'book cube'
The new municipal library in the southwest German city of Stuttgart, is designed in the shape of a cube and is therefore also referred to as a "book cube." The building was designed by Korean architect Eun Young Yi and opened in 2011. There is space for half a million books and other media.
Image: Weber/Eibner-Pressefoto/picture alliance
A football field or a library?
Don't worry if you don't have a student card, the library of the University of Technology in Delft, the Netherlands is worth visiting even without it. The sloping, grass-grown top of the building is particularly striking, and the 42-meter-high cone that pierces the building in the middle hides four floors full of books.
Image: Nicholas Kane/Arcaid/picture alliance
Tulipwood and ebony
British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" included the Biblioteca Joanina in Coimbra, Portugal in the 2013 list of the most spectacular libraries in the world. It bears the name of the Portuguese king John V, who commissioned its construction. All bookshelves are made of tulipwood and ebony, and the place is now part of the Faculty of Law.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images/H. Champollion
The ancient world meets modernity
The Library of Alexandria was the most famous library in the world before it was destroyed in flames about 2,000 years ago. It is said to have contained the whole knowledge of the then world on about 490,000 papyrus rolls. The new library of Alexandria, which continues the tradition, opened in 2002. Its final cost? More than 220 million dollars (€187 m.).
Image: picture-alliance/Arco Images GmbH
Among mummies
Some of the specimens in possession of the Abbey library of Saint Gall in St. Gallen, Switzerland are over 1,300 years old, and visitors can see the monastery plan, the oldest building plan in Europe, or an Egyptian mummy. The Büchersaal ("The Book Hall," above) has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1983.
Image: picture-alliance/Stuart Dee/robertharding
Rescued by a president
Pay a visit to the Library of Congress whenever you are in Washington, D. C. The library was founded in 1800 but was burnt down by the British just 14 years later. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, sold about 6,500 books from his private collection to fund the $24,000 restoration. The main reading room pictured above was built in the Neo-Renaissance style.
Image: picture-alliance/JOKER/H. Khandani
An oak-ey idea
The double-storey "Long Room" in the old Trinity College Library in Dublin is 64 meters long and 12 meters wide. But the space wasn't always as impressive as it is today. Its flat, plaster ceiling was removed in 1858 and substituted by a new roof made of oak.
Image: Imago/imagebroker
A movie star
The New York Public Library has starred in several films, including the musical "42nd Street" from 1933, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "Ghostbusters" (1984) and "Spider-Man" (2002). It is also where Carrie and Mr. Big get married in the 2008 "Sex and the City" film. Opened in 1911, the impressive main reading room is currently being expanded.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Schmitt-Tegge
Everything is big in China
With an archive of more than 30 million books and other media, the National Library of China is one of the seven largest libraries in the world. It was built as the "Capital Library" in 1809 and later renamed the "Beijing Library" in 1928 after the People's Republic of China was established. Its current name was approved by the state in 1998.
