Library of the Week: Cathedral Library of Kalocsa, Hungary

The town of Kalocsa is located in the western part of Bacs-Kiskun County, about 75 miles from Budapest, Hungary. The Archbishopric of Kalocsa was established by St. Stephen, the founder of the Christian state of Hungary, in 1001.

In 1733 a monastery, in 1765 a college, and in 1768 a printing press was established in the town. In 1782, Archbishop Adam Patachich founded a library by combining his private collection and that of the Bishopric’s, thus establishing the Cathedral Library of Kalocsa (Bibliotheca Metropolitanae Ecclesiae Colocensis). By the second half of the 19th century, the archbishops turned Kalocsa into an educational center of national reputation.

Today one can admire over 130,000 books here, an ever-growing collection of codices and incunabula, scriptures, songbooks, and books on medicine, law, astronomy, and more. The photo shows the reading room of Archbishop Adam Patachich, decorated in beautiful Baroque style, containing many volumes with gilded leather covers. The library’s historical exhibit is also housed in this area.