The Con­vent of St Gall, a per­fect exam­ple of a great Car­olin­gian monastery, was, from the 8th cen­tu­ry to its sec­u­lar­iza­tion in 1805, one of the most impor­tant in Europe. Its library is one of the rich­est and old­est in the world and con­tains pre­cious man­u­scripts such as the ear­li­est-known archi­tec­tur­al plan drawn on parch­ment. From 1755 to 1768, the con­ven­tu­al area was rebuilt in Baroque style. The cathe­dral and the library are the main fea­tures of this remark­able archi­tec­tur­al com­plex, reflect­ing 12 cen­turies of con­tin­u­ous activ­i­ty.