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petite-luana · 13 hours

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House of the Fountains

* Conimbriga (Portugal)

* 1st century CE / 2nd century CE

Pic 1: Halley Oliveira from Guimarães, Portugal, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Pic 2: Elisardojm, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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Completed in 1771, the library at Mafra National Palace houses about 36,000 books from the 15th-19th centuries. Some of the oldest and rarest books in Portugal are here. In 1754, Pope Benedict XIV declared that anyone taking books from this library without permission from the King of Portugal would be excommunicated. He also gave permission for works on the Catholic church’s Index of Prohibited Books to be stored here.

The library is home to a colony of small bats that come out at night to eat the insects that would harm the books. In the morning, the bat droppings are removed from the floor to make it presentable for the public.

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Some of the fifty-six Italian sculptures commissioned by King João V for the basilica at Mafra, Portugal.

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The throne room at the National Palace of Mafra in Portugal. Half the room was filled with scaffolding while I was there and the lights were kept very low to preserve the frescoes.

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The Severity of Classicism

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Since its opening in 1771, the Mafra Palace Library has been home to a colony of tiny bats; they roost behind the cases in winter, and in the orchard outside in the summer, swooping in during the night to eat insects which would otherwise damage the books.

Ph. Will Pryce

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