Ephesus - The Aegean Coast - Cities and Towns in Turkey - Turkey - Home
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| The Library of
Celsus is one of the most recognizable features of Ephesus. After the of Celsus Polemaenus, a former consul who had
been appointed governor of
Ephesus, his son erected a magnificent reading room over his tomb.
The building, which dates from the 2nd century, was attacked by fire in
260 but the facade suffered no real damage. It is 21 m wide and 16 m high. Equestrian statues stood on pedestals on each side of the main staircases and there are also indications that statues were placed in the niches on the upper floor. The main room measures 16 x 10 m. The burial chamber under the ground floor contains a sarcophag s in an excellent state of preservation. Excavations carried out by Austrian archaeologists at the beginning of the 20th century revealed that there was a 4th century fountain in the front courtyard. They also found several valuable carvings in high relief depicting the wars waged by Marcus Aurelius and ucius Verus against the Parthians. Advantage was taken of legal loopholes existing at the time of the excavations to transfer these reliefs, together with four female statues from the facade of the library, to the Kunsthistorische Museum in Vienna. |
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The monumental facade
as it stands today is the result of restoration work begun in the 1970s.
The library, like most all of the archeological site, was covered with
hundreds of years of earth that had to be removed. During the removal,
the pieces were found for the reconstruction. Where there were pieces
missing, replacement pieces were fabricated to finish the facade. This being an active earthquake area, one might wonder about the stability of the building. During the reconstruction, lead plates were placed at the top and bottom of the columns and the whole given a play of 50 cm capable of withstanding a 9 degree earthquake on the east-west axis. Additional, a perforation of 10 cm was made in each of the columns and iron inserted. |
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The workers and archeologists made an important while the work was in progress on the front facade. During the work, an unknown aspect of Roman architecture was discovered in the form of a curve starting from zero at the bottom of the stairs and reaching 4.5 cm at the bases of the columns. This curve reaches 10 cm in converse fashion, a feature which until now was thought to have existed only in Greek architecture. This expedient is known to have been employed in order to increase the monumental effect over an area 21 m in width. Restoration of the building was completed and the whole opened to the public in 1978. Most tours of the archeological site begin at the top of the hill and visitors work their way down Curetes Street. As they do, the facade of the library starts to become visible in the distance. It must have been a beautiful thing to admire those several hundred years ago when the structure was new and stood gleaming in the sunlight. To the right of the library is the Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates that leads through the agora and on to Arkadiane (Harbor Street) and the theater. |
 The detail on the facade is beautiful. |
 Looking up Curetes Street from the steps of the library. |
 It's too bad that not all of the statues are still at the site. |
 This road leading off into the distance at the left side of the library reminds me of what some of the original roads may have been like that led from the far country to the city. |
CLICK HERE for
additional photos of Ephesus
and
HERE for photos of some of the intricate
detail work to be found in Ephesus.
| It is best to visit Ephesus with a good
guide - especially if it is your first visit. Although there are many licensed,
official tour guides, I believe that Can (John) Yigit is one of the best. One of
the main reasons is, not only does he love this place, but he worked here beside
the archeologists when he was in college. And, is very personable. His English
is excellent and he makes the place come alive with his narrative. Contact
information is as follows: Can Yigit Gsm +90 532. 426 63 35 Tel +90 256. 612 83 30 email: guidecan68@yahoo.com P.O. Box 152 09400 Kusadasi / Aydin / Turkey Here
are a couple of comments about John. |
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John helped with this page of Getting Away. Thanks John
