Thursday, April 12, 2012

World's Oldest Operating Bookshop


Livraria Bertrand dates back to 1732. It was destroyed after the Great Earthquake in 1755 and reopened doors at the present location in 1773.

30 comments:

Olivier said...

tres belle librairie, une architecture classique mais tres agreable

Kate said...

Your post today made me very curious about bookstores so I did a little research. There are two other bookstores, one in Paris and one is the US that both claim the same honor, but I agree with you that Portugal has the honor. Here is the blurb on the US claim:
About the Moravian Book Shop
The Moravian Book Shop, the oldest bookstore in the world, was founded in 1745 when the Moravian Church appointed Samuel Powell of the Church's Crown Inn on the South Side of the Lehigh River to operate a book store. After several locations, the Moravian Book Shop was moved to the church's publications building near the Central Moravian Church in 1871. Today, the Moravian Book Shop's home is this same site on Historic Main Street in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

I find this fascinating!

Arija said...

A cavern of many dreams that one can get lost in . . .

Unknown said...

@Kate: I think you might be referring to Galignani in Paris, but Bertrand in Lisbon is actually older: http://www.bookstoreguide.org/2008/12/additional-readers-picks.html
They even have the Guinness certificate hanging on the wall.

Thank you for the information on the Moravian Book Shop, I haven't heard of it before.

Tanya Breese said...

wow that is so neat!

Sharon said...

I'd love to browse in this place!

TexWisGirl said...

wow! that's cool!

Birdman said...

I've NEVER passed a bookstore that I didn't want to venture in.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love bookshops! Bet this one has a great atmosphere.

VP said...

Interesting, nice, elegant and... persistent!

Sylvia K said...

I love bookstores and this one is indeed priceless! I would love to spend a day there! Great capture, JM!! Enjoy your weekend!

Sylvia

Rob Siemann said...

An extremely narrow and long place, if I remember well. I didn't know it was that old.

Unknown said...

@Rob and Mandy: Right! :-)

orvokki said...

It's great that so old shop is stil alive and daily using.
Super image!

Lowell said...

What a gorgeous building. And it's my kind of place. I'm sure I could spend hours in there. So nice to see an independent business lasting so long in spite of several severe setbacks. We've lost way too many small bookstores to the big chains.

Carolina Louback said...

Este terremoto foi devastador. Um lugar para ir quando aí estiver. Gosto imenso de livrarias. Estas antigas então... hummm... E se tiverem um café dentro delas, sou capaz de ficar por lá e não ver a hora passar.

joo said...

It's a gorgeous building, and the bookshop with such a long tradition is simply fantastic!

theconstantwalker said...

Waterstones?.. sorry it's my little joke. It's so wonderful to see and read about your local history.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing to find s shop that's been in business for so long.

Jack said...

It is unfathomable that a bookstore would be in continuous existence for so long! And, I enjoyed reading Kate's comments about two other bookstores. Isn't it wonderful how much we learn from one another on these blogs?

Randy said...

That where you would find me.

Al said...

Wow. That's older than my country, and more than twice as old as my city!

Unknown said...

Such a distinguished history and location! I may have to come over to Lisbon JUST to go to this shop! You photographed it beautifully. Love the pedestrians!

Joan Elizabeth said...

I love bookshops, I judge cities by the quality of their bookshops. Would never have thought one to exist for so long or been there so long ago. We loved going into the antique bookshops in London where there were old leather bound tomes ... bought one for the memory.

Halcyon said...

It's beautiful! I'm glad to hear it's still running as so many local bookshops are closing these days. I'm afraid in another 20 years or so books themselves will be obsolete. :(

Stickup Artist said...

We had a chain bookstore nearby. It had a coffee shop and comfy chairs so it was nice. Unfortunately, it had to close, a victim of online competition. But I have lived in large urban areas and miss this kind of experience. I always liked the smell of old books and the feel of the soft pages, regardless of content. It was always a bonus if it had good pictures or art inside!

That "sidewalk" is really spectacular too.

irinapictures said...

The view and smell of books make me want to make research into them. I hope this shop survives the e-books attacks.

Melbourne Australia Photos said...

I love going into bookshops and spending hours browsing, reading, selecting and buying books. This one looks wonderful.

Valladolid Daily Photo said...

It would have been a great post for today, April 23, World Book Day.

arabesque said...

i could stay there for hours! ^0^
i love the vintage feel of this, i hope it stays strong despite new establishments here and there,