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Visiting Trinity College

Is there anyone else who is in love with old libraries? You know those places with wooden movable ladders, dim corners and old books smelling like unreadable adventures. If you are obsessed with those places, you won’t be disappointed with The Old Library at Trinity College.

How to visit?

Trinity College is a must-see place while you’re in Dublin. Elizabeth the first founded the university in 1592. Since then, the place has been an academic home for many famous people, like Oscar Wilde and the author of The Dracula, Bram Stoker. Anyone can enter the campus area, but you will need to purchase a ticket to see the old library.

The entrance fee is 12 euros, which is quite a lot for a library. However, I hope that the majority of the money goes to the restoration of the old books. You can also see The  Book of Kells that is an over 1000-year-old, beautifully decorated book containing the four Gospels in Latin. The exhibition tells how monks tirelessly wrote and decorated pages of vellum (calfskin) while they were writing the Book of Kells and other similar books. During the exhibition, you can see the book itself  (or two pages of it) but you aren’t allowed to take any photos since the book is very delicate.

The library is the highlight of the exhibition. There will be many tourists taking selfies but don’t let that bother you. Marvel the statue aisle with portraits of Socrates, Aristotheles, Shakespeare, Newton and alike. Breathe in the scent of old books and let your eyes wander on the bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling. There is a truly magical vibe there, and hopefully, some of it is conveyed through these photos.

The entire campus area is worth a visit, even though the library ticket is a bit on the pricey side. I was really lucky with the weather. It was only mid-February but the sun was shining and the temperature was over 15 degrees. I just sat on the bank with hundreds of students and enjoyed the warmth. Perhaps in one way, I became a part of the long link of students and visitors who had been at Trinity College over the centuries.

Are you obsessed with old libraries?

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