Opening on 27 July 2018
Joanina Library, Intermediate Floor
As part of the 20th Cultural Week of the University of Coimbra, under the motto “Oh the houses”, Prof. Luísa Trindade organized an exhibition evocative of the time of D. João V, which marked 300 years since the beginning of construction (1717-1728) of Coimbra's baroque library. Displayed (in a very condensed form) in the Catalog Room of the General Library, the "#joanina300years" exhibiton managed to attract some attention and benevolent criticism during the brief period in which it was on display. It is now redesigned in a bilingual version for instruction and enjoyment by the very varied audience that passes through the Joanina Library spaces. Visitors will be able to see this library not as a beautiful anomaly, but rather as an achievement perfectly suited to the interests of the King and the University of the time. Purposefully diverse in content, and highly selective, due to the abundance of excellent editions from the Johannine period and the scarcity of available space, the documents gathered in this exhibition reflected the dimension of openness to the values of 18th century Europe that Casa da Livraria represents. Such values contributed to the awarding of the European Heritage Label to the General Library of the University of Coimbra in 2014.