Library of Celsus
The Library of Celsus (also Library of Celsus ) is an old library building in Ephesus ( near Selçuk, Turkey).
It was built in 114-125 AD by Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus honor of his father Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus. Father and son belonged to the Roman upper classes, the senatorial order, and had the Consulate clothed. In the substructure of the library was located the grave chamber of Celsus, where he was interred in a marble sarcophagus.
The library, which was only completed by Aquila's heirs under the supervision of the rich Ephesian citizen Tiberius Claudius Aristion, housed up to 12,000 books in roll form. The subsequent maintenance costs of the building he had saddled by a clever formulation in the will of posterity. An inscription with the exact wording of the will is attached and get in front of the library.
The library has external dimensions of approximately 23 m length and 17 m depth. Since there was only limited space is available for the building in already densely built-up city center of Ephesus, use was made in the design of the facade of optical tricks such as a curvature to make them seem monumental, but also elegant. The facade of the building has two floors and is highly structured with a forward and retrograde architecture. In the four niches of the basement four female statues are erected, which embody the virtues of Celsus ( Sophia = " wisdom" Arete = " excellence ", Ennoia = " Judgement", Episteme = " expertise "). About a staircase with nine steps and statue bases at both sides to get to the stylobate, from where you can enter through three doors the interior. Analogous to the three doors, there are three window openings on the upper floor.
In contrast to the two-story facade of 16.72 x 10.92 m measured interior was designed three floors. The book scrolls were stored in niches that were open on Galleries.
Probably in a fire in connection with an earthquake in the third quarter of the third century, the interior of the library was destroyed and not recovered. In late antiquity, the facade served as a display wall of a monumental fountain. The fountain basin was formed by relief panels of the so-called Partherdenkmals.
In the years 1905/ 06, the library was exposed. From 1970 to 1978, the facade was erected by a Anastylosis under the direction of architect Fried Hueber and the archaeologist Michael Volker Strocka again. This is the Celsus Library is one of the most famous ancient monuments of Turkey: not only a subject in the Turkish tourism promotion often used - it also adorns the back of the 20 lira banknote.
As a guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008, Turkey was a photo exhibition about the library.