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“They” say that the Boekhandel Dominicanen in Maastricht, Netherlands is the most beautiful bookstore in the world. Any bestย (fill in the blank) in the world is quite the statement, don’t you think?
Of course, I had to go find out myself.
You might like: Ultimate Netherlands Travel Guide
As soon as we entered the 700+ year old church bookstore, Mike headed straight for the record section while I kept scaling the stairs to get closer to the heavens.
Never having been so close to the ceiling of a church, I marveled at the structure’s arches that so eloquently held up the integrity of the literary world.
I thought about how much effort went into renovating this church abandoned in the last decade of the 18th century when the French troops invaded the country. All this for books! Hooray!
And the decision to preserve its original elements such as the teal stained windows while adding in a contrasting minimal interior? Bravo MERKX + GIROD (the architecture firm), bravo!
Even though, I was up so high, I still felt pretty small in this grandiose bookstore– the power of knowledge AND god in one place… double whammy.
I took advantage of being on the 3rd floor to look down. It’s always nice to get a different vantage point.
I looked up, down, and around at pretty much everything but the books. They were mostly in Dutch.
If you want to know how much Dutch I know, I’ll count to ten and read off any ingredient label in the grocery store for you. ๐
From the top, you could see the divine cross shaped coffee table.
Is it trying to say that coffee is sort of its own religion nowadays? Or maybe I’m looking to much into it…
So back to where we started– is the Boekhandel Dominicanen the most beautiful bookstore in the world?
It’s certainly the most beautiful bookstore I’ve been to,
but what do you think?
Share this post if you think it’s beautiful, or comment below!
Boekhandel Dominicanen
Dominicanerkerkstraat 1
6211 CZ Maastricht
Netherlands
+31 43 410 0010
Opening hours located here
Karin says
What a lovely place! I have been to a similar (second hand) bookstore in Copenhagen some years ago, definitely, the churches – turned – bookstores are charming <3
Sarah says
Oh I’ll have to check out that bookstore. Copenhagen’s on my bucket list!
Scott Stavrou says
Books are a far better ‘religion’ than any other I know of.
Sarah says
Ha. I like that!
Cayce says
So beautiful!! And they sells records too!! Aww, I’m going to Amsterdam next and now I really wish I had left some time to stop by this place… but next time, definitely.
Sarah says
It’ll be there whenever you have time!
Pinay Flying High says
Well that is definitely the best one I’ve seen so far! Although I might not be able to scale the stairs up to the very top without having a shaking knees, I’m afraid of heights! Yaiks!
I think Dutch is quite a hard language to learn, I have a lot of Dutch friends and whenever they talk in their language, I can somewhat hear German. Have you tried learning Dutch?
I’m trying to learn Greek and it’s super hard! :-/
Sarah says
You would be ok! It’s not too high. I got scared too when I was taking a photo over it and the thing shook a little lol, but it passed.
Izzy says
Wow, this is definitely going on my list of must-visits! I absolutely LOVE bookstores? Have you ever heard of the blog, “Eat This Poem?” http://www.eatthispoem.com/city-guides/ These are city guides that compile the best places to eat and read in a city! You should try your hand at putting together a guide for the Netherlands if there isn’t one yet. I went to a church that was converted into an urban outfitters store and it changed the shopping experience. I’m sure that reading books in a sacred place makes the action even more divine. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
Thanks so much for sharing that blog. It’s really cool!
Tricia @ The Adventure List says
Wow stunning! I love that they converted a gorgeous church for such a business. It’s like bring two good worlds together.
Sarah says
I agree!
Danielle Des says
This is so amazing and I would probably be so distracted looking at the beautiful architecture instead of checking out a few best sellers.
Sarah says
I was totally distracted so didn’t look at books… also most of the books are in Dutch ๐
Cynthia says
Wow that bookstore is absolutely stunning! I have a thing for bookstores so this is definitely something I’d want to check out in the future!
Sarah says
Awesome! Enjoy.