The Monastery Library
The Novacella Monastery Library is among the most beautiful library halls in the Southern German area, and it represents a repository of knowledge through the centuries. The two-story structure on the south side of the Abbey Yard was commissioned by Propst Leopold de Zanna and completed in 1778. Master builder Giuseppe Sartori from Sacco near Rovereto created a large, brightly lit library hall, which was adorned with elegant stucco details lavishly decorated with gold by Hans Mussack from Sistrans near Innsbruck. Beautiful book cabinets with carved crowns, divided into forty-three subject areas, large doors with ornate locks, and the marble floor with its pattern lend the library a festive character to this very day. Valuable manuscripts, some of which are adorned with precious illuminations, testify to the Abbey’s scriptorium of yore, which was known far beyond Tyrol.
