The city of Coimbra, located on a hill, is the third most important city of Portugal. It is also called the old university town, as it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. The university was founded in the XIII century and was originally located in Lisbon. But because of the poor functioning of the organization in 1537, the university was transferred to Coimbra.

Zhuanina Library is located in the University of Coimbra, close to the university tower, and named in honor of the Portuguese King João V, during the reign of which was built the library. The building was built in the XVIII century. Above the entrance to the library hangs a national coat of arms. The library is located in the upper part of the University, and consists of three rooms: red, blue and olive oil, which are separated by decorative arches. In each room there are two-story shelves almost to the ceiling. The walls of the library is very thick, and the doors are made of teak wood, which helps to preserve a certain temperature inside to not start the insects in oak bookshelves.

The decorative elements of the interior of the library pronounced baroque style, the hallmark of which is the abundance of gold-plated details. Tables made of pink and ebony and leather bindings of books, as well as leather seats and leather upholstery wallpaper preserved since the founding of the library. The furniture in the rooms is made of exotic wood, covered with gold leaf.

The library has a large collection of books, which is actively used by both students and teachers of the university. Among this collection there are rare instances, such as one of the 20 drevneiudeyskih Bible that survived during the Inquisition.

In 1901 the library was renamed the Central Library of the University, as the faculties were created its own library. In 1962 it was constructed another building libraries osnaschennok modern technology, which stores more than a million copies of books.