Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino in Turin

You're standing on Piazza Carlo Alberto, at the National Library of Turin, one of the most important libraries in Italy. Take a good look at the façade. It looks old, and it is. This used to be the stables of Palazzo Carignano, the palace right next to the square. When the library got its new building here between 1958 and 1973, the old stable front was kept. So behind what was once a home for horses, there's now a treasure house of books.