Library of Celsus

Plan of the library

View of the reading room

Left side of reading room with entrance to the corridor between the walls

Right side of the reading room with the entrance to the corridor between the walls

The Library of Celsus, built ca. 135, was to serve as a library and a tomb. The square library building may have been of two and possibly three stories. The extremely ornate façade has columns and statuary, which was reconstructed in the 1970s.

Around the main room of the library are recesses in the walls where the scrolls were kept in bookcases. This design is a common feature in Roman library architecture and has been used to identify other potential libraries. A special corridor between the outer library wall and the wall of the main room helped to trap condensation, which could damage papyrus just as dampness can destroy modern paper. In a rounded area in the center of the wall across from the main entrance was a statue of Athena or, probably, of Celsus. The corridors around the perimeter of the building led to a staircase down to the crypt, which was located directly under the statue.