The biggest monastery library of the world in Admont, Austria
© AFP Samuel Kubani

ADMONT, Austria (AFP) - Hidden in the Austrian Alps some 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of Vienna, Admont's Benedictine monastery, which was founded in 1074 and spreads over 270 square kilometres (66,720 acres), has always striven for opulence.

"During expansion work in the 18th century, the monastery wanted to compete with El Escorial," the sumptuous monastery founded by King Philip II near Madrid in the 16th century, says Gudrun Pacher, spokeswoman for the Admont monastery.

"In the end, the only part of the project that remained was the library, which was completed in 1776," she adds.

The ornate library is the size of a cathedral: 13 metres high, 14 metres wide and 70 metres long.

The biggest monastery library of the world in Admont, Austria
© AFP Samuel Kubani

In the ceiling, seven majestic domes boast wonderful frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte that seem more three-dimensional than flat.

Below, niches filled with ancient books cover the immaculate white walls around a chequer-patterned marble floor, decorated with Josef Stammel's sculptures of "The four last things" -- death, last judgment, heaven and hell.

"In the spirit of the Counter-Reformation, monasteries had to have a ceremonial hall, aimed to impress," notes Pacher.

"Admont's Benedictine monks chose the library, since the Rule of Saint Benedict -- 'pray, work and study' -- places special emphasis on reading."

The biggest monastery library of the world in Admont, Austria
© AFP Samuel Kubani

Unlike its somber predecessors, the Admont library was conceived as a bright space with pastel colours and sunlight streaming through the windows: a sign of the Church coming to terms with the Enlightenment.

"The architect, Josef Hueber, wanted light to flood this place and the mind," says Pacher.

Some 200,000 books are kept in this library, including 530 early printed works, 1,400 manuscripts and a giant 11th-century Bible.

Luther's Bible and an original 1758 edition of Diderot and d'Alembert Encyclopedia also feature prominently.

But besides the traditional works on theology and canon law, the library also owns a significant science and history collection that is still used by hundreds of researchers every year, according to the monastery.

"Miraculously" spared by a fire that destroyed the rest of the complex in 1865, the building finally had to undergo a major restoration in 2004.

The biggest monastery library of the world in Admont, Austria.
© AFP Samuel Kubani

Digging in the basement by the Nazis, who seized the monastery during World War II, had damaged the structure and its frescoes, while ultra violet rays streaming in through the 48 windows were equally harmful to the volumes.

The restoration project, which cost 6 million euros (8.88 million dollars) and was partially funded by the European Union, involved the entire library, from the walls to the artworks and the windows, which were replaced by anti-UV glass.

"The library has regained its original brilliance and we're now hoping to welcome over 70,000 visitors per year, even though we're off the tourists' path," says Pacher.

A bright architectural and artistic sight, the library still has traces of a more sinister period of history however.

Intent on performing experiments on human guinea pigs at Dachau concentration camp, the Nazis seized some 2,000 medical books from the monastery almost 70 years ago.

"The books, which we got back after the war, still bear the camp's stamp," says Pacher.

©AFP