Biblioteca Palafoxiana (Palafoxiana Library), Puebla (must see)

Biblioteca Palafoxiana is a rare colonial-era library whose collection remains close to its original setting. Its origins date to 1646, when Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza donated thousands of books to the seminary, making them available to clergy and educated lay readers. Later, the collection expanded with volumes taken from Jesuit colleges after the order’s expulsion from the Spanish Empire in 1767.

The 18th-century hall preserves the atmosphere of a learned institution shaped by religion, humanism, and early science. Its three-tiered shelves, carved from cedar, white pine, and ayacahuite, combine strength with natural protection, as cedar helps repel insects. The collection ranges from theology, law, medicine, and astronomy to rare Indigenous-language grammars and dictionaries used for missionary translation.

The interior is carefully arranged and visually balanced. Dark wood bookcases, a vaulted ceiling, reading tables, and a large altarpiece-like composition at the far end give the room a solemn but accessible character. One of its unusual pieces is an old rotating book wheel, a wooden device that allowed scholars to consult several open volumes at once without constantly lifting and closing them. The library also held prohibited works in a restricted section known as “El Infierno,” or “Hell,” accessible only with special permission.

Visitors usually view the library from protected areas, but the room still conveys its scale, craftsmanship, and long scholarly life. After the 1999 earthquakes, restoration work helped stabilise the hall and safeguard its shelves and books. Its UNESCO Memory of the World recognition reflects its value as a record of how knowledge was collected, organised, restricted, and shared in colonial society.