• the light seems to favour this particular volume. i wonder what it is... - Sara Berger

The Splendid Library

The Baroque library Biblioteca Joanina (King John's Library) it's a dream...My wish is to stay here forever..
I imagine Jorge Luis Borges shearching here the Aleph.

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. "
Jorge Luis Borges

Comments and faves

  1. ★

    pink's, (Rimbaudian), Shooting Chris, Alex Maggi, and 223 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  2. pink's (87 months ago | reply)

    é mesmo, o aleph!

    é impressionante essa foto!

  3. (Rimbaudian) (87 months ago | reply)

    wow, I'm sure the Aleph can be found there! (I read that novel again after Artica quoted it in the testimonial she wrote for me). Magnificent shot!

  4. magic fly paula (87 months ago | reply)

    One of my favourite writers...
    Thank you !

  5. Alex Maggi (87 months ago | reply)

    Wow, que lugar fantastico.
    Linda luz

  6. anideg (87 months ago | reply)

    impressive!!!

  7. brilho-de-conta [deleted] (87 months ago | reply)

    os tesouros escondidos, são tantos!

  8. motocchio (87 months ago | reply)

    too beautiful to be real. it makes me feel like time-tripping sometime in the past.

  9. Moranga (87 months ago | reply)

    Overwhelming!!!

  10. Martin Playing With Pixels & Words (87 months ago | reply)

    I always struggle with these kind of shots...the hot white light and the dark and brooding atmosphere...but i think you made this one work.

  11. esther (off) (87 months ago | reply)

    Excellent shot!

  12. seriykotik1970 (87 months ago | reply)

    Magical-the library as cathedral, a ray of transcendant light illuminating the darkness. What a feast of detail and colour.

  13. César Augusto (87 months ago | reply)

    Aventura na casa dos livros

    A casa gira nas mãos dos livros
    e abate-se, sobre as estantes, destruindo as lombadas,
    em busca dos títulos e dos nomes dos autores,
    avançando, no devorar das badanas,
    e das promessas aladas dos índices,
    da ficha técnica e da sinopse ondulante,
    navegando encorpada nas contra-capas.

    É o estádio onde compete a biblioteca
    com a ansiedade profana do leitor.
    As palavras transvestem-se de árbitro
    e penalizam a tranquilidade do saber,
    atiçando a táctica para o capítulo seguinte,
    onde se derrama a trama, o mistério, a voz
    que dá sentido ao habitante do texto.

    Na revolução das prateleiras e dos cheiros,
    a tinta impressa, o papel amarelecido, o couro,
    a carneira das perdidas encadernações,
    tudo marca a saudade dos velhos sótãos,
    o silêncio dos contos, a magia dos poemas,
    o mar inesgotável dos infindáveis romances
    e a paz, trazida pela leitura, nesses instantes.

    José António Gonçalves
    (in "Aventura na Casa dos Livros",
    Cadernos Ilha, 10, Ed. Correio da Madeira, 2000)

    Abraços de luz.

    César.

  14. eclectio (87 months ago | reply)

    beautiful shot

  15. BurntPhrases (87 months ago | reply)

    It's gorgeous.

  16. dristis-mudra (87 months ago | reply)

    magical room !

  17. pentimento (87 months ago | reply)

    breathtaking..

  18. magic fly paula (87 months ago | reply)

    Good morning...
    It's a real pleasure to me to read these great words...thank you all!

  19. //BWR (87 months ago | reply)

    I really like this "place" and the way you SEE it...

  20. -sel (87 months ago | reply)

    wow - simply brilliant!

  21. François Vassivière (87 months ago | reply)

    "Cette bibliothèque là, la mienne, ne sait pas que j'existe,..." Mes livres - in "LA ROSA PROFUNDA" - J L Borges
    Sublime photo !

  22. Canna W (87 months ago | reply)

    I don't usually enjoy the baroque, but here it looks so right. I think your light has lit it - beautiful work Paula :)

  23. laSilvi (87 months ago | reply)

    Paradox. How is it that so little simplicity can bring so much silence?

  24. vanvos (87 months ago | reply)

    fantastic interiors... wonderful lighting!

  25. evanunca (87 months ago | reply)

    Wow! Amazing place...

  26. ojoblanco (87 months ago | reply)

    linda!
    the universe is a library :)

  27. Duck Parade Comics (87 months ago | reply)

    The light is wonderful; it transmutes whatever it touches. I would be tempted to look out the window.

  28. > Josean < (87 months ago | reply)

    Amazing shot!
    Fascinating illumination!

  29. Muadh N M (87 months ago | reply)

    This is really beautiful :)

  30. Cilest (87 months ago | reply)

    fantastic. such beautiful light. and i love libraries! great one.

  31. Sara Berger (87 months ago | reply)

    *orgasms*

    sorry for being so blunt, but it's just too beautiful not to.

  32. Heteronimo Asociado (87 months ago | reply)

    Beautiful, Endless,...frustrating!
    Luck that the light indicates to us where to begin to read!!! :)

  33. izarbeltza (87 months ago | reply)

    woow! the perfect place to get lost!

  34. Fujur (87 months ago | reply)

    Increible lugar!

  35. tangent (87 months ago | reply)

    I've never seen anything like it. How fortunate for me that I get to see it through your eyes.

    We're in the age of instantaneous information retrieval. We are part of the infinitely expanding library, soular revolution, and it's digital.

  36. Lookfar (87 months ago | reply)

    a book paradise :)

  37. Anders B. (87 months ago | reply)

    I could live there...

  38. Sweet Freak (86 months ago | reply)

    heavenly!

  39. shadowbrush (85 months ago | reply)

    What a dreamy and wonderful place! Hundred lifetimes worth going through the rows of books and breath the heavy scent of thoughts and history.

  40. *Zig* (85 months ago | reply)

    Breathtaking! I so much would like to inside and well...just to be there is enough ;)

  41. mel-pin (82 months ago | reply)

    I agree totally with Borges. Paradise is an endless library that contains everything and everyone, our lives,our laughters and our unavvoidable faults, all written clearly on thin japanese papers. We chose the titles.

  42. LowSpirit79 (76 months ago | reply)

    really impressive.. add√

  43. Coussier (70 months ago | reply)

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Coimbra Photography, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.

  44. Willem Heerbaart (70 months ago | reply)

    Breathtaking that's what it is, splendid light! nice to meet you and your work thanks to the Coimbra Photography group.

  45. Gurugo (69 months ago | reply)

    Ah, Coimbra... Gosto de ver a minha cidade pelos teus olhos. :)

  46. jelens (69 months ago | reply)

    creo que tendré que ir a Coimbra solo para ver esto!!:-))( y gracias*)

  47. //BWR (69 months ago | reply)

    and now I've seen it in coimbra, 'cos I remember this pic !!!

  48. zenog (69 months ago | reply)

    genial : )*

  49. soschulz (68 months ago | reply)

    The library is really impressive. Problem is, they don't let you take pictures there.

  50. Choollus (61 months ago | reply)

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Libraries & Books, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  51. Jennerally (61 months ago | reply)

    Amazing!

  52. abelalexander (61 months ago | reply)

    this library is really beautiful

  53. Angie x (42 months ago | reply)

    This. Is. Beautiful.

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