A stunning new public library and high temple to reading has opened in Paris for both local and traveling bibliophiles. It goes by a nickname that couldn’t be more apt: the Oval Paradise.
After a painstaking 12-year restoration that carried a price tag of €261 million, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France’s historic Richelieu site in 2nd arrondissement has reopened the last of its reading rooms, giving Parisians and visitors a soaring new space in which to read, work, study, write…or just daydream.
And unlike the library’s other reading spaces – which are reserved exclusively for accredited researchers – the Oval Room (Salle Ovale) is free to use and open to the general public.
Since it opened its doors last September, the Oval Paradise has become Paris’s newest architectural attraction. A monumental glass ceiling brings natural light flooding into the majestic setting, where 20,000 books on French art, history and literature – all free to peruse – are stacked under soaring archways.
But it’s not all textbook academia. If you’re more into manga than Montesquieu, you may be interested to learn that nearly half (or 9000) of the room’s holdings consist of comic books and graphic novels from around the world, the largest collection of its kind in France.
If you’re a student or working remotely, park yourself at any one of the long tables in the center of the room (where you’ll find free wi-fi and charging outlets). If you’re more interested in doing some leisurely reading in the hallowed halls of arguably the most beautiful public reading room in Paris, settle into an armchair or a spot on a bench and dig into your book undisturbed.
The library’s refresh, which was timed to coincide with the site’s 300th anniversary, also includes a newly open museum area, the Mazarin Gallery, which features 900 highlights from the library’s collection of ancient maps, stamps and manuscripts.
When you’re done reading, head over to the museum to check out Victor Hugo’s original manuscript for Les Misérables, Mozart’s…
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