Standing just a few minutes walk from the Red Square, the Russian State Library is at the top of my list for most-see places + spaces in Moscow. It is the largest library in Russia + the fifth largest in the world for its collection of books (over 17 million 🤤).
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Within every city I’ve lived, a priority of mine has been to always find a place of solitude. Libraries + bookstores have kept me living + breathing over the years. In NYC? The Strand or NYPL Bryant Park. Detroit? The (beautiful) Detroit Public Library + the Bloomfield Township Public Library. LA? Don’t ask but the Montana Ave Branch Library. Even whilst visiting cities, I always make a point to step foot into a room adorned w/books.
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This place, however, provides all the feels, not only for its collection but for its marbled facade. I simply can’t take my eyes off of the blue-stoned columns as I come to terms with how small I am in comparison to the magnitude of this building. There is so much to learn + so little time.
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As I reread the pages written by the man who peers down from the steps leading up to the entrance of the Library, I am reminded of his words from The Brothers Karamazov, “This is my last message to you: in sorrow, seek happiness.”
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Books are mine. What’s happiness to you?