Chester Beatty Library (Dublin, 24-3-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This museum which is called a library, probably because there is a reading room for researchers and it has a large collection of books, is located in Dublin castle. We didn't know it was there so we kind of stumbled upon it. And what a great find it was!

The Chester Beatty Library won the "European museum of the year"-award in 2002 and for very good reasons! Their collections opens a window on the artistic treasures of the great cultures and religions of this world. Sadly one part was closed now but the room we visited was close to perfection.
It included a part about eastern religions, Islam and Christianity. The atmosphere is great, the objects are marvelous, the information is to the point, the lighting is perfect; this is a part of museum heaven!

There wasn't a lot of objects but I was totally amazed by their quality. The best pieces there were the papyrus scrolls with gospels on them from around 250 AD. I have never seen these and they are extremely special!
There's also a nice roofgarden in which you can relax and downstairs there is a restaurant.

And the best thing of it all: it's for free! I hope to visit this museum again some day when they have re-opened the other gallery because I'm quite curious what else they've got!

Their site: http://www.cbl.ie/ Be sure to look at the image gallery!