Paris Catacombs, Vatican Secret Archives and other illegal libraries you can visit today

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Free access to information has become commonplace today. But it was not always so. Books used to be reserved exclusively for the elite and were too expensive for the average person. The tradition of social libraries began with the creation of the Library Company by Benjamin Franklin in 1731. Today, public libraries are one of the last remaining social spaces that are free for the public. Everyone takes this social infrastructure for granted. But all over the world there are groups that oppose such free sharing of knowledge. Regardless of legal obstacles, people seem to find ways to share and preserve knowledge. Sometimes, because of these obstacles, libraries appear in the most unusual places.

1. Paris catacombs

The romantic City of Lights near Paris is a city of shadows. Deep underground there are hundreds of kilometers of tunnels entwined in a complex network that is one of the oldest in the world. Very few tourists get here because of the high risk of danger, because people were often lost in the catacombs. Walls can collapse at any moment, so the most courageous ones who dare to go underground wear miner's helmets. The endless winding canals, corridors and crypts have no electricity and are filled with heaps of unnamed skulls (the catacombs are estimated to contain the remains of some six million deceased Parisians). There are such narrow parts that you need to squeeze through them lying down, wriggling like a worm, but it is behind such passages that the most interesting lies.

Only a small section of the catacombs is accessible to tourists, while the rest have been prohibited from visiting since 1955. But a real community (without a leader) of stalkers has formed, who still visit the Parisian underworld. These urban explorers are called cataphiles. Far from the rules of the surface world, they are free to express themselves. They paint, sculpt and create other art objects. The cataphiles also build fake walls, hatches, and secret gutters to hide from the authorities, who are clearly not enthusiastic about their activities.

One of these secret underground rooms is called La Librairie ("Library"). It has hand-carved shelves filled with books. To get into the "Library", you need a familiar cataphile to lead it, otherwise it will simply be impossible to find it.

2. Small free libraries

In recent years, there has been a very encouraging development - people around the world are building small free libraries in their backyards. These are essentially give-one, take-one book exchange points. The creativity in the design of these small box cabinets is impressive and ranges from creating shelves inside an old tree stump to building miniature Tardis from Doctor Who. For some incomprehensible reason, there are tough laws to eliminate these "illegal segregated structures." Apparently, those who want to be a good neighbor are criminals.

3. Secret locker in a Catholic school

Some argue that schools should ban certain books from their libraries. For example, children should not be instructed on how to create a bomb or literature that encourages violence or prejudice. However, does it make sense to ban Canterbury Tales, Paradise Lost or Animal Farm? An anonymous private Catholic school has banned these books and any others that local authorities claim to undermine their religious beliefs. However, one student took action to resist the book ban by opening an illegal library in her school locker.

It started when the girl brought her favorite classic, The Catcher in the Rye, which was banned at school. She gave the book to her best friend to read. This happened more and more, until her locker turned into an unofficial library of 62 prohibited books. At the same time, if the student was caught, she would have a lot of problems.

4. Shadow libraries

Some strongly believe that access to scientific research and academic journals should not be limited to those with enough money to buy them. This is why pirated libraries (or shadow libraries) are exploding in the digital world. If someone tried to get access to scientific literature on the Internet, then he probably already knows that many articles are available only for paid access. This limits access to at least three quarters of scientific research and discussion, which is a global issue. The price for access is growing every year. In addition, a significant part of scientific research is funded by the state or patrons. Thanks to the open access movement, anyone connected to the Internet can access this knowledge if they know where to look.

For starters, there is Sci-Hub, which is a digital library that is not limited to open source licensed content. Sci-Hub calls itself "the world's first pirated website to provide mass and public access to tens of millions of research papers." Its main task is to ensure universal access to knowledge. Since then, other websites have emerged, such as Library Genesis, with similar copyright infringements.

5. Syrian secret library

Isn't it pretty hard to imagine that you have to dash to get a book to the library, dodging snipers. However, the residents of the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya swear that it will be worth it. Anas Ahmad, a former construction student and one of the founders of the secret library, described how to get to it: “We have to go through bombed buildings to catch the eye of snipers. In this case, we have to be extremely careful, because snipers sometimes follow us in anticipation of the slightest mistake. A community of volunteers created an underground library hidden in the basement to keep it from being destroyed. It is filled to the brim with 14,000 books on almost every subject, but even collecting these books was very dangerous.

Some people find it strange to risk their lives for books. However, this secret library not only unites the community in terms of hope and inspiration, but also fulfills many important functions (do not forget that many fled the country or died). For example, hospital volunteers use library books to learn how to treat patients. Without dentists, people have to exercise, for example, to extract a tooth. Teachers use books to better prepare students. Apart from academic literature, many people read simply for the love of books and as a way to escape the horrors of the real world.

6. Seed Libraries

For millennia, farmers and gardeners have freely traded seed varieties to grow the best crops. In libraries across the country, volunteers have set up about 300 seed exchange points, allowing friends and neighbors to exchange self-pollinated seeds rather than buying standard hybrid seeds. But recently, the United States decided to enforce existing laws by limiting this practice. The laws were originally intended to protect farmers by ensuring that only proper quality seeds were sold. These laws apply not only to sales but also to barter exchanges. Nobody expected the emergence of seed libraries, but, nevertheless, despite the harmless small exchanges between people, officials are forced to comply with applicable laws.

7. Cave libraries in China

More than 1000 years ago, an unknown person sealed a three-meter chamber in a cave in the Gobi Desert, which contained 152 meters of manuscripts. This hidden knowledge remained untouched in total darkness until it was accidentally discovered. In the early 1900s, a Taoist monk named Wang Yuanlu was the caretaker of cave shrines in the region. He accidentally decided to smoke in this cave and noticed that the smoke was pulling towards the back wall. Wang Yuanlu broke through the barrier and discovered the hidden treasure, although he could not read the documents. The collection is now called the Dunhuang Library, or the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas. Since the scrolls were discovered, an entire academic discipline has emerged from these materials. The library contains 50,000 documents in at least 17 languages. One of the most valuable artifacts is the Diamond Sutra, a copy of one of the Buddha's sermons, which is the oldest ever discovered (it dates back to 868 AD). The Buddha himself called it the "Diamond Sutra" because he explained that his message would "cut like a diamond blade through worldly illusion to illuminate that which is real and eternal."

The Diamond Sutra is the world's earliest complete and dated printed book. The walls of hundreds of caves, which were carved by hand 1,700 years ago, are adorned with paintings. They also contain the world's largest collection of Buddhist art. The caves contain artifacts that range from 2,000 brightly colored clay Buddhas to the earliest complete star map in the world. The library also contains ominous documents such as a manual detailing how to perform human sacrifices and a contract drawn up to exchange a slave girl for a silk merchant's IOU. There are also manuals on magic, including a fortune-telling book written using Turkic runes. Why the library was sealed and forgotten for so long remains a mystery.

8. Closed library room

The closed room at the National Library of Australia houses the largest collection of prohibited materials in the country. Its location is not disclosed to the public, as the library contains hundreds of books that are not permitted for public viewing. For example, these are materials that can contain deadly advice, such as guides to suicide or textbooks with experimental errors that can lead to the production of toxic chemicals. The secret room is called "giftschrank", a German term for "medicine cabinet". After the Third Reich finally collapsed, Nazi literature was kept in giftschrank, and not burned. The National Library of Australia's credo is that librarians don't want to get rid of anything. Australian Collections Management Director Alison Dellit said: "Part of the library's role is to preserve the history of Australian publications, and part of that publishing history is that sometimes people publish things that shouldn't have been published."

9. Illegal Activities in Los Angeles Libraries

Sometimes a library is illegal, not because it contains prohibited books, but because of the criminal activity that takes place there. In Los Angeles, libraries paid over $ 5 million to police in 2017 for security (24-hour security for a total of 10 police officers and 67 guards). A secret investigation was conducted at Goldwyn's Hollywood Library that uncovered shocking crimes ranging from drug use and theft to sexual intercourse. The cameras also showed that the designated police officers did not see the crimes taking place around them. They spent most of their time texting or talking on cell phones. In one case, the camera captured a methamphetamine sale in front of an LAPD officer who was fast asleep.

10. Vatican Secret Archives

The mysterious archives of the Vatican have generated much suspicion and speculation over the years. Some conspiracy theorists claim they contain evidence of aliens or predictions of the apocalypse, while others suspect it is the Pope's secret cache of pornography. Given the 85 kilometers of bookshelves that the "uninitiated" cannot see, it's easy to see why conspiracy theories exist. More recently, the Pope opened secret archives to a select few members of the public, and even now, access to them is extremely limited. However, an official from the archive admitted that a section remains, which is indeed classified. Nobody has access to this part - not the journalists, not even the most prominent scientists.

Libraries and educational institutions have always been a special theme in the work of architects. What is definitely worth seeing is 10 universities in the world that amaze with their beauty.