The historical National Library was the first public library in the Americas. It was founded on January 9, 1777 and opened at its current location on July 20, 1938. In it are preserved, among other treasures, a manuscript of “The Vortex” by José Eustasio Rivera, an 1825 map of Colombia, and a Seville edition of “Amadis de Gaula” dating from 1539.