Pannonhalma’s 1000 -year -old arch abbey is a vast Benedictine monastery that is one of the oldest knowledge centers in Hungary and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Experts remove around 100,000 hand -bound books from the shelves and place them in airtight bags. That is the start of a disinfection process to kill the small bread beetles in the books.
The bread beetle is often found in dried foods such as grains and flour. The critters are also attracted by gelatin and starchy glue in books.
The books are put in plastic bags. © ANP / EPA
“This is an advanced insect plague found in different parts of the library. The entire collection is therefore considered infected and must be treated in one go,” says Zsófia Edit Hajdu, main restorer of the project. “We have never seen such a high degree of infection before.”