Seminary Library, Ljubljana

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Semeniška knjižnica v Ljubljani

Bogoslovno semenišče Ljubljana, Dolničarjeva 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana

http://www.rkc.si/semenisce-lj/main.htm?page=predstavitev/knjiznica.htm

info.semenisce.ljubljana@rkc.si

Phone386 (0) 1 232 7891

Built in 1701 and richly decorated in Baroque style, the Seminary Library, Ljubljana was the first public library in Ljubljana. It contains a valuable old ecclesiastic and secular book collection, including numerous precious manuscripts and prints. Its wooden fixtures and fittings were carved in the local workshop of Josip Wer and its frescoes were created by the Italian Baroque painter Giulio Quaglio between 1721 and 1723.

Background

The idea to establish a scientific library accessible to the wider public was born in Academia operosorum Labacensis, which was led by the provost Janez Krstnik Prešern. The members of the academy strove to modernise the city with setting up of new institutions, one of them being a new library. The founding charter of the new library was signed by the provost, by the cathedral dean Janez Anton Dolničar, and by the Ljubljana bishop Sigmund Herberstein, who agreed the new library be opened during the day, the books would not be lent, and the contents would comprise also personal collections of the deceased academy members.

The library grew when the library founders passed away, their books were kept and when a new seminary - Charles Institute - started to be build in 1708, there were also designs for the library hall. In 1721 its ceiling was painted by the Italian painter Giulio Quaglio who previously worked at the cathedral, and the carpenter and carver Joseph Wergant provided beautiful oak cabinets and bookshelves in 1725. When a Regional Academic Library was founded by the Empress Maria Theresa in 1774 in Ljubljana, the seminary library remained available to the priests and seminarians. When the University of Ljubljana was founded in 1919, a new library of the Faculty of Theology was established. The Baroque library nevertheless remains open to the public with a prior notification.

External links

• Seminary Library, Ljubljana web page (in Slovenian)