Biblioteca Palafoxiana — Attraction in Puebla

The Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla, Mexico, is the oldest public library in the Americas, as well as one of the most beautiful. In 1981, the Mexican government declared it a historic monument and in 2005, UNESCO added it to the Memory of the World list. A digital catalog of the library's collection was released in 2010.

The former Colegio de San Juan is now home to Puebla's Casa de la Cultura cultural center, but the Biblioteca Palafoxiana remains in its original location on the second floor. It occupies a long vaulted hall with a splendid altarpiece from the mid 14th century gracing the far end. The altarpiece is covered with gold leaf, and the center is dominated by a painting of the Madonna of Trapani by Sicilian master Nino Pisano. The library has been recognized for its antiquity, originality and artistic value.

In 1640, the Bishop of Puebla, Juan Palafox y Mendoza, donated 5,000 books from his private collection to the seminary of the Colegio de San Juan with the condition that the books be available to anyone who could read, and not just academics, thus creating the first public library of the Americas.

In 1773, Bishop Francisco Fabian y Fuero commissioned bookshelves of finely carved cedar, ayacahuite pine, and coloyote wood to house the library's...

The library is open Tuesday to Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm/Friday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, the cost is $42 pesos, $21 pesos for children under 12 years old, students, teachers and INAPAM with ID and people with disabilities, Sunday and Tuesday is free admission.

Palafox y Mendoza donated his personal library, consisting of five thousand volumes.

In 1981, it was named a Historic Monument of Mexico for its beautifully decorated precinct, an emblem of the novo-Hispanic baroque style; and in 2005, it was included by UNESCO as part of the Memory of the World program for its bibliographic collection of antique books.

Today, the Palafoxiana Library is a museum of books and continues its work as a universal library.

But before they didn't pay for the library at all, so that was the part that I didn't like that now they...

The Palafoxiana Library was founded in 1646 with the donation of 5,000 volumes, made by Bishop Juan de Palafox and Mendoza to the Tridentine Colleges. This was the first public library in America. In 1773, Bishop Francisco Fabián y Fuero ordered the construction of the first two levels of cedar shelving. In 1981 the Library ceased to be public and became a museum, although to date it continues to serve researchers from all over the world. In 2005, the Palafoxiana Library was registered by UNESCO as Memory of the World, a fact that makes it a universal treasure. The Palafoxiana Library is the only site on this continent that protects a collection of such nature, unique in its kind, preserving the concept and structure of a new...