Mug Shot — «St. Gallen - Abbey Library of Saint Gall»

From St. Gallen, Switzerland

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Starbucks City Mug St. Gallen - Abbey Library of Saint Gall
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St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic base. The main tourist attraction is the Abbey of St. Gall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its renowned library contains books which date back to the 9th century. The city has good transport links to the rest of the country and to neighbouring Germany and Austria. It also functions as the gate to the Appenzell Alps. St. Gallen is situated in the northeastern part of Switzerland in a valley about 700 meters above sea level. It is one of the highest cities in Switzerland and it often receives a lot of snow in winter. The city is pleasantly situated between Lake Constance and the mountains of the Appenzell Alps. It therefore offers excellent recreation areas nearby. As the city center is built on an unstable turf ground (thanks to its founder Gallus who was looking for a hermitage and not founding a city), all buildings on the valley floor must be built on piles. For example, the entire foundation of the train station and its plaza are based on hundreds of piles.

The Abbey Library of Saint Gall was founded by Saint Othmar, the founder of the Abbey of St. Gall. The library collection is the oldest in Switzerland, and is one of earliest and most important monastic libraries in the world. It holds 2,100 manuscripts dating back to the 8th through the 15th centuries, 1,650 incunabula (printed before 1500), and old printed books. The library holds almost 160,000 volumes. The manuscript B of the Nibelungenlied is kept here. The library books are available for public use, but the books printed before 1900 must be read in the Reading Room. The library hall, designed by the architect Peter Thumb in a Rococo style, is considered the most beautiful non-sacred room of this style in Switzerland and one of the most perfect library rooms around the world. In 1983 the library together with the Abbey of St. Gall were made a World Heritage Site, as 'a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery'. A virtual library was created to provide access to the manuscripts — Codices Electronici Sangallenses. Currently 400 manuscripts are preserved in digital format.

photo by lucky
edited by mobydick74

  Switzerland, St. Gallen, MIC, MIT, MIC/MIT

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