Five bookstores that are worth the trip

MORNING LIST

What would Bordeaux be without Mollat, Paris without Shakespeare and Company or New York without Strand? In The Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World (272 pages, 39.95 euros), the EPA editions invite you on a world tour of these temples of the book that make the hearts of cities beat. We chose five, from Maastricht to Bucharest via Buenos Aires, Mexico City and a tiny Welsh village.

Boekhandel Dominicanen, the book religion in Maastricht

The Dominican Church in Maastricht, the Netherlands, had a troubled life: built in the purest Gothic style in the 13th century^e century, it ceased to be a place of worship at the end of the 18th century.^e. It is then and successively a warehouse, a school or a bicycle garage, before becoming a bookstore in 2007. Immediately ranked first in the top 10 of the most beautiful bookstores in the world of Guardian, it stands out as one of the reasons to discover the small Dutch town, famous for its antiques fair, Tefaf – The European Fine Art Fair. In addition to books, there are international magazines or vinyls, we go there in the evening for a debate, a dinner or a concert. The café, with its central cross-shaped table, occupies the apse of the old church. A true cultural center, Boekhandel Dominicanen is the divine surprise of Maastricht.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid, books on the boards in Buenos Aires

Reading a book in a dressing room, exploring the shelves of the basket or the old parterre… The El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Buenos Aires, the Argentinian capital, is not simply the occupation by books of a somewhat old theater. early twentieth kitsch^e century. It is rather a matter of cohabitation, since the stage – now occupied by the coffee tables – and the heavy crimson curtain are still there. Pianists follow one another on the keyboard to enchant the ears of book lovers to the sound of a tango aria or a Mozart sonata. From the facade to the ceiling, all the elements of the old theater have been preserved. The result is a staging of the books that feels like an eternal premiere night.

The Honesty Bookshop, a village devoted to books in Wales

You have to imagine a village, Hay-on-Wye, in the Brecon Beacons National Park, in Wales: 1,500 inhabitants including around thirty booksellers and booksellers and… 50,000 books available! This very British eccentricity finds its source in the madness of the former local squire, Richard Booth (dead today). He invented the Honesty Bookshop in the 1960s, an open-air bookstore where books are taken from open-access shelves, simply protected from the rain, in exchange for one pound per volume. No cash register, no cashier, just boxes where you can put your donation and thus contribute to the restoration of the castle. Since then, Booth has been followed and a book festival each year draws over 200,000 curious visitors to the streets of Hay-on-Wye. The next edition will be held from November 24 to 28. An excellent reason to jump into the Paris-Cardiff at 30 euros from the airline Vueling.

El Pendulo San Angel, the most beautiful of Mexico City’s cafebrerias

A palm tree in a bookstore is a bit the opposite of a needle in a haystack: you only see it, especially when it flies over the ceiling, more than 10 meters high! The last born of the seven cafebrerias El Pendulo (for “cafe” and “bookstore”) is called San Angel and it is a temple devoted to books, elegantly dressed in wood and soft light. Located to the south of the central districts of the megalopolis of 20 million inhabitants, El Pendulo San Angel is taking the same bet as its elders in Polanco or Condesa: to be a center of the cultural life of the district, by increasing the number of free events. In addition to the café, reading areas allow you to enjoy this haven of peace as a library, in the heart of the bustling Mexican capital.

Carturesti Carusel, a literary palace in Bucharest

The former century-old palace of a powerful Romanian banking family, in the center of Bucharest, became in 2015, when it opened, the “most instagrammable bookstore in the world”. It must be said that the restoration carried out by the architectural studio Square One is a masterpiece of clarity: undulating balconies, immaculate columns, majestic glass roof, this XXL bookstore deserves its name of “carousel of light”. Tastings of wine or organic specialties, signatures, exhibitions … like all the major bookstores in the world, Carturesti Carusel is not limited to the sale of books. A stone’s throw away, the cloister of the Stavropoleos church or the Romanian national treasure and its crowns preserved in the National History Museum of Romania invite you to explore a district in full effervescence.