Book Churches

 

 

Book shops and libraries are heaven on earth for book lovers.

If they have an original concept or location, they attract even more visitors.

Did you ever hear of 'book churches'?

Let's discover some of them in Europe and Canada!

 

 

 

The first time I heard of such an original location, was when I visited Maastricht (Netherlands).

If you ever go there, make sure to go to book shop Dominicanen!

Here's a collage of my first impressions from December 2018:

 

And for those who like to watch a little movie of the place, here's one made by the book shop itself:

 

 

But did you know that this church isn't the only one converted into a bookshop or library?

There's a Belgian website where a list figures with lots of churches in the world that got a new purpose as a supermarket, fitness center, …

 

As the website is in Dutch, I already filtered the many churches to be able to present you the ones in connection to books.

By clicking on the links, you'll each time see a page on which you can find:

• a few pictures
• the exact address of the place
• a short history of the building and repurposing
• contact details
• interesting links (to the websites, articles, Youtube-movies, …)

 

Sadly enough, there's no translation-button available on the site. But I can recommend to use Google Translate instead 😉

 

There are 4 bookshops mentioned:

• Waanders in de Broeren, Zwolle (Netherlands) 
• Dominicanen, Maastricht (Netherlands) 
• Livraria de Santiago, Óbidos (Portugal) 
• Chorus Buchhandlung, Kempen (Germany) - this is a religious book shop, contrary to the other ones which are general bookstores

 

Here's a short impression of the Livraria de Santiago in Óbidos (Portugal).

What a shame that it didn't exist yet when I visited this beautiful little medieval town many years ago!
By the way, if you ever go there, make sure to taste Ginja de Óbidos, a sour cherry liquor served in a chocolate cup (which you eat afterwards). Mmmmm!

 

 

But what amazed me most on abovementioned website was the amount of 'church libraries'!

Here's a list of the most beautiful ones (where the church architecture is visible on the pictures):

Just a little sidenote: '(openbare) bibliotheek' is Dutch for '(public) library'.

 

• Openbare Bibliotheek Diksmuide, Diksmuide (Belgium) 
  
• Bibliotheek Hoeselt, Hoeselt (Belgium) 
• Bib Uitleenpost Kaulille, Kaulille (Belgium)
  
• OC St. Paulus, Kortrijk (Belgium) 
• Biblionef, Virton (Belgium)
• Multimediaruimte Notre-Dame, Wavre (Belgium)
• Bibox, Wielsbeke (Belgium)
  

 

• Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg, Maastricht (Netherlands) 
  
• MFA De Poorten, Tilburg (Netherlands) 
• Ontmoetingscentrum De Petrus, Vught (Netherlands) 
• Bibliotheek Zutphen, Zutphen (Netherlands) 

 

• Niedersachsische Staats- und Universitatsbibliothek, Göttingen (Germany)
• Stadtpfarrkirche, Müncheberg (Germany) 

 

• La Nef, Dijon (France) 

 

• Biblioteca Escuelas Pias, Madrid (Spain) 

 

• Bibliothèque du Mile End, Montréal (Canada)
  
• Bibliothèque Rina-Lasnier, Québec (Canada)
• Bibliothèque Memphrémagog, Québec (Canada) 
• Bibliothèque Monique-Corriveau, Québec (Canada) 
• Espace Saint-Grégoire, Québec (Canada) 

 

 

If you know other churches which have been repurposed as book shop or library, don't hesitate to mention them in the reactions! 

There exist so many original book places that I've decided to regularly present you some of them.

To be continued ... 😉