August 9th marks National Book Lovers Day and in order to celebrate, TheKnowledgeAcademy.com took to Instagram to find the most Insta-worthy book stores around the world, to help book lovers gather inspiration for their travel bucket lists.
Among the most Instagrammed book stores in the world there is also one from Romania.
|
BOOKSTORE NAME |
LOCATION |
TOTAL NUMBER OF HASHTAGS |
|
Los Angeles |
110,498 |
|
2. Powell’s |
Oregon |
94,241 |
|
3. Book and Bed |
Tokyo |
83,989 |
|
4. Shakespeare and Company |
Paris |
80,660 |
|
5. Livraria Lello |
Porto |
76,042 |
|
6. Libreria Acqua Alta |
Venice |
43,793 |
|
7. Cărturești Carusel |
Bucharest |
36,854 |
|
8. Books Actually |
Rochor |
24,635 |
|
9. City Lights Books |
San Francisco |
21,452 |
|
10. Daunt Books |
London |
21,121 |
|
11. Barter Books |
Alnwick |
14,331 |
|
12. El Ateneo Grand Splendid |
Buenos Aires |
13,952 |
|
13. Ler Davagar |
Lisbon |
10,552 |
|
14. El Pendulo |
Mexico City |
9,521 |
|
15. Atlantis Books |
Santorini |
6,933 |
Find a list of the top 20 stores here.
Taking the lead as the most picture worthy bookstore is The Last Bookstore located in Los Angeles with a grand total of 110,498 hashtags. Their doors first opened in 2005 and this now two-story shop filled with over 250,000 new and used books, has become one of the largest independent bookstores in the world.
The USA also takes second place with Powell’s based in Oregon currently having 94,241 hashtagged posts on Instagram. Powell’s has been serving as an oasis for booklovers since 1971 which just goes to show that paperbacks aren’t going out of fashion anytime soon.
Sneaking into third is Book and Bed in Tokyo, Japan. Totalling a modest 83,989 hashtags on Instagram, they have their hostel-inspired concept of a “bookstore where you can stay” to thank.
Daunt books situated in different locations across London takes tenth place, representing on behalf of UK bookstores. With 21,121 hashtags currently, they were able to nab the title from Barter Books located in Alnwick with only 14,331 hashtags in comparison.
Putting Greece on the map in 15th place is Atlantis Books in Santorini (6,933 hashtags). Established in 1922 by magicians it’s said to be a birth-place of modern witchcraft, with coven meetings held regularly in their basement.
Carturesti Carusel book store opened its gates for book lovers in February 2015, on 55, Lipscani Street, in the heart of Bucharest.
A historical building with an impressive destiny shelters the six-floor bookshop, unfolded on a 1,000 square-meter area. Carturesti Carusel is also hosting a bistro at the upper story, a multimedia area at the basement and a gallery dedicated to contemporary art located at the first floor.
At present, the spectacular book store offers more than 10,000 volumes.
The story of the building is not less impressive than its actual look. It was built in 1880 and it served as the headquarters of Chrissoveloni bank until 1945, when the communists nationalized the house. During the communist period it served as a store, Familia Store.
Chrissoveloni banker family acquired the building in 1903 and regained it only after 1990. The incumbent owner, Jean Chrissoveloni restored the building and rented it to Carturesti, which underwent a complex revamping process in order to turn it into an unique fancy bookshop.
Jean Chrissoveloni did not mention about the investment’s costs, only saying “they were quite painful”.
The architect Adrian Cancer who dealt with the revamping works said that nothing was bought, everything was manufactured in ‘a 100 percent Romanian workmanship.’
Carturesti is ‘a concept store’ functioning as a bookshop and as a cultural agent at the same time. The first Carturesti bookshop was launched end of 2000. At present, Carturesti network is counting 16 concept-bookshops, in Bucharest and several other Romanian cities.