Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library review

This is actually two libraries. The original structure, designed by Charles McKim and completed in 1895, is now the research library, while an extension opened in 1972 functions as a general library. The elegant granite exterior of the older building is generally classified as Italian Renaissance revival, although McKim cited various influences, including the Marshall Fields department store in Chicago. It's well worth visiting, and you can join an informal art and architecture tour, conducted by volunteers, most days (phone for times). At the centre of the building is the cloistered courtyard, with its central fountain - a tranquil place to linger. The expansive second-floor reading room, Bates Hall, named after an early benefactor, runs the entire length of the library, and features a majestic barrel-arched ceiling punctuated by half-domes at each end. Another highlight is John Singer Sargent's epic, recently restored mural, the Triumph of Religion, which dominates the third floor gallery; there are also murals by, among others, 19th-century French painter Puvis de Chavannes. Downstairs, the library's restaurant, Novel, and the Map Room Café are worthy lunch spots.The modern wing of the library, which echoes its parent's materials, lines and proportions in a modernist vocabulary, has had its critics but has aged well.