Bibliotheca Alexandrina

A modern library honouring the ancient Library of Alexandria, its huge tilted disc roof sloping toward the sea.

It has shelf space for eight million books, and its main reading room covers 20,000 square metres on eleven cascading levels. When it was built, that was the largest reading room in the world. In 2009 France's national library donated 500,000 books, which helped make it the sixth-largest French-language library in the world.

How it was planned

The idea of reviving the old library began in 1974, when a committee at Alexandria University picked a site between the campus and the sea, close to where the ancient library once stood. In 1988 UNESCO held a design contest, and the Norwegian office Snøhetta won out of 524 entries. Building began in 1995, and about 220 million US dollars more was spent before the opening.

What is inside

The complex holds a conference centre, several specialised libraries, museums, art galleries, a planetarium and a lab for restoring manuscripts. Its books are in Egyptian and classical Arabic, English and French. The Internet Archive gave it 5 million US dollars plus a copy of 10 billion web pages, and in 2009 France's national library donated 500,000 books. It works as a cultural centre as well as a library, so there are exhibitions and events as well as books.

On the globe

The model shows the library with its huge tilted disc roof sloping toward the sea.