from the BBC
--by Fiona Mcconald
19 August 2016
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| The Vatican's Secret Archives |
"After news emerged about an underground reading room in Damascus, Fiona Macdonald discovers the places where writing has been hidden for centuries."
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| "Hidden libraries" were discovered within Medieval book bindings. |
Beneath the streets of a suburb of Damascus, rows of shelves hold books that have been rescued from bombed-out buildings. Over the past four years, during the siege of Darayya, volunteers have collected 14,000 books from shell-damaged homes. They are held in a location kept secret amid fears that [they] would be targeted by government and pro-Assad forces, and visitors have to dodge shells and bullets to reach the underground reading space.
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| The Library Cave at Dunhuang, 1908 |
It's been called Syria's secret library, and many view it as a vital resource. "In a sense the library gave me back my life," one regular user, Abdulbaset AAlahmar, told the BBC. "I would say that just like the body needs food, the soul needs books." -- READ MORE
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