Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading

Feast your eyes on this beautiful, richly sculpted façade – it belongs to the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, a library like no other! It’s protected by INEPAC, the State Institute of Cultural Heritage, and was voted fourth most beautiful library in the world by Times magazine. The library houses the largest collection of Portuguese-language literature outside Portugal. It was founded back in 1837, by a group of 43 Portuguese immigrants, political refugees who found a new home in Brazil. Their aim was to promote their culture among their growing community in the newly established capital of the Brazilian Empire. The present building was inaugurated in 1887 in the presence of Emperor Dom Pedro II, along with his daughter and her husband, the princely couple. The façade is built entirely of stone shipped in from Portugal. It was inspired by the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, and built in the late Gothic architectural style known in Portugal as Neo-Manueline. This exuberant artistic style flourished during the reign of Manuel I of Portugal, hence the name, and coincided with Portugal’s golden age of maritime exploration. No surprise then that you’ll find this style all across the Portuguese colonial empire. Out of the four statues you see here, three represent famous explorers and navigators: Pedro Alvares Cabral, thought to be the European discoverer of Brazil; Prince Henry the Navigator; and Vasco de Gama, on the far right, the first European to reach India, the real India, by sea. The second statue from left to right isn’t a sailor, but that’s to be expected – this is a library after all! Meet Luis de Camoes, who is, in all modesty, Portugal’s greatest poet – their very own Shakespeare, you might say. They even have a saying: “A Língua de Camões”, that is, the language of Camoes, similar to how we might say “the language of Shakespeare” in English. In brief, the library has been open to the public since 1900, so be sure to pay a visit! Among its 350,000 volumes, one can find rare works and ancient manuscripts, but it’s the overall grandeur and atmosphere that truly leave a lasting impression! Bookworms, unite! This place is for you! Step inside and get lost in a maze of century-old books, in a setting straight out of a fantasy film.