---

One of the biggest attractions to visit in the ancient city of Ephesus is the Celsus Library. It was built to house a total of 12,000 scrolls and was also known to be the site where the remains of former Roman senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus were buried. The library was built by his son, the former consul of the Romans, Gaius Julius Aquila Construction began roughly in AD 117 and was completed around AD 120. Celsus was buried beneath the library, near his entrance, where the statue of Athena, the goddess of wisdom.



Impressive Structure of the Celsus Library

When you visit the library, the impressive façade of the structure will merit your admiration. The facade has 2 floors designed with Corinthian style columns, as well as the three entrances of the building. Upstairs you can find 3 windows that have a great front view, something that will force you to look out whenever you visit the place. To make the size of the facade seem larger than it really is, the builders used an impressive optical trick in which the columns used on the sides are shorter than those of the columns used in the center. All the statues placed on today's columns are only copies of the originals that are now displayed in the Ephesus Museum

---