The ancient world knew two great libraries - the library of Alexandria and the library of Celsius. These were stunning in their volume and completeness collections of written works of literature, scientific treatises and mystical texts. From the Alexandria Library, only memories remain. The Celsius Library was more "lucky": its façade has survived, behind which a huge amount of knowledge and art of antiquity was once kept.
The ancient Roman library at Ephesus, completed in 135 AD, held over 12,000 scrolls. The very history of its foundation is interesting: Tiberius Julius Celsius, the Roman consul, was a very educated person for his time. For the Asian provinces of Rome, he did so much that it was decided to glorify his memory for centuries. Therefore, the son of the consul, Gaius Julius Aquila, began the construction of a grandiose library in Ephesus, which was also supposed to serve as his father's mausoleum. This was an exceptional case in the life of the Roman Empire: as a rule, citizens of Rome were not buried within the city limits. Thus, one can imagine how great the respect for Celsius was.
True, the library was already completed by the heirs of Aquila, but thousands of manuscripts and scrolls were purchased with the huge funds bequeathed. The library building was truly grandiose for its time: magnificent, rich, amazingly beautiful and slender. Over a century of its existence, the Celsius library became famous throughout the empire, but its "life" was short-lived in terms of history. Already at the end of the 3rd century A. D. during the Goths attack, the entire interior of the building, along with most of the books, burned down. The façade of the building has been amazingly preserved, and almost completely.
Today the Celsius library looks strange: behind the majestic two-tiered facade … there is nothing! It feels like you are watching a theatrical setting.
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The structure and style of the facade is reminiscent of the Greek architectural style: the columns of the lower tier are crowned with Corinthian capitals, and the columns of the upper "floor" end with triangular and semicircular tympanes. Three portals on the lower floor support three window openings of the second tier.
The façade plan is quite simple and laconic, but amazingly slender and at one time was very richly decorated. The statues of Sophia, Aretas, Eunoi and Epistema symbolized wisdom, knowledge and virtue, on the side of the entrance a statue of Athena was installed - in a word, here the Romans completely obeyed Greek motives.
Portals and friezes were decorated with rich stucco and ornaments.
The facade of the Celsius library has survived to this day badly damaged, so what we see in Ephesus today is the result of a large-scale and diligent reconstruction.
Archaeologists and restorers have scrupulously restored the library, in full accordance with the images and descriptions of this grandiose building that have come down to us.