Strahov Monastery, part 1

~On Sunday, the day after my visit to Kutna Hora to see the Ossuary and the Alchemy Museum, I attempted to visit an art gallery in Prague but got lost near the Castle and ended up walking around for most of the day, which was a pleasant enough experience in itself.

That evening I attended an opera at the State Opera House, one of Prague's three main opera venues. The show was "The Flying Dutchman" by Wagner, which tells the story of a sailor damned to sail the seas forever, or at least until he finds a woman who can be eternally faithful to him (hint: the opera has a happy ending). I had a bad seat, but it fit my budget, only costing the equivalent of around eight U.S. dollars. And I could hear everything just fine, which was the whole point of going.

^ The statue in the background depicts the famous astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, who worked in Prague. You may recognize the person in the foreground.

With the weekend over, the seminar schedule again took effect. Our first destination on Monday was the famous Strahov Monastery, located in the southern section of Prague. Strahov Monastery contains not one, but two of the most famous libraries in the Czech Republic. My seminar group was given a tour of both.

^ Prague, taken from outside Strahov Monastery. As you can see, the monastery is on a hill on the outskirts of the city.

^ An unusual map of Europe on a wall in Strahov Monastery. Naturally, Prague is the "heart" of Europa.

^ The first library we toured was the Theological Hall, which dates back to 1679. It now contains over 18,000 volumes, including many editions of the Bible and biblical translations, along with theological texts. In my opinion, this is the best-looking library that I had the pleasure of seeing on my trip.

^ The books here are arranged by subject. Notice the sign above the bookshelf that reads "Classis Civilistica": classics of civilization, I assume.

^ The paintings on the ceiling of the Theological Hall depict man's quest for knowledge, which I think is a very enlightened view for a religiously-themed library. This scholar is hard at work ("vigilant") trying to puzzle out who knows what. Notice the owl on his left, a symbol of wisdom.

^ More ceiling art. These cartographers are attempting to chart the world correctly.

^ On a slightly darker note, these gentlemen are pondering the nature of death and mortality.

^ Speaking of gloominess, this statue of St. John the Revelator sits at one end of the Theological Hall. Why so gloomy, John? Perhaps because he's just received a vision of the End of the World, and it's not pretty.

One interesting thing to note about the statue is the book he's holding in his left hand. It looks like it's in a bag, but it's not; instead, the leather cover of the book stretches beyond the book itself, so as to be conveniently carried.

^ Some more ceiling art, this time depicting the process of learning. Notice the adult teaching the kid his ABC's in the lower-left.

^ A literal "book case" in the center of the Hall, used to store valuable books. It opens up to form a convenient desk for reading.

^ Yet another reading aid, this machine can hold multiple books, which can be rotated on a wheel to quickly change from one book to the next. I imagine it's great for research.

^ These locked cabinets sit over the doors leading into the Theological Hall. They were once used to hold "Libri Prohibiti", books which were placed by the Catholic Church on the Index of Prohibited Books. Catholics were not allowed to read prohibited books without special permission from church authorities. Prohibited items were "quarantined" in vaults such as these until scholars received proper permission to peruse them.

After speaking with the tour guide about these vaults and the Index of Prohibited Books, I decided to write my seminar paper on the subject. It's titled, "Index Librorum Prohibitorum: The History, Philosophy, and Impact of the Index of Prohibited Books", and you can read it here. Let me know what you think of it.

^ A beautiful old manuscript of medieval music. The format of musical notation has changed over time, but it's not too hard to work out the notes of this illuminated text.

^ Finally, the most valuable item in the collection of Strahov Monastery: a 10th-century, jewel-covered New Testament known as the "Strahov Evangeliary". Sure, it's pretty, but the cover is so bumpy that it can't fit properly on a shelf.

Next: The Philosophical Hall of Strahov Monastery, and the Hall of Curiosities!