Bibliotheque de Celsus
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Why go
- The nine-step staircase leading to three entrances beneath the two-storey façade.
Don't miss
- Marble façadeLook for botanical carvings and portrait statues across its two storeys.East-facing front of the library
- Four virtue statuesThe lower façade has copies representing wisdom, knowledge, intelligence and excellence.Four niches around the doors
- Nine-step staircaseNine steps rise to the façade’s three entrances.In front of the library
Interesting facts5
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The façade used false perspective to make the building appear larger.
Library of Celsus - Wikipedia -
Windows on the eastern side brought natural light into the reading room.
Library of Celsus - Wikipedia -
A seven-branched menorah was engraved on the staircase’s second step from the top.
Library of Celsus - Wikipedia -
Scroll niches had a cavity behind them intended to protect the scrolls from damp.
Bibliothèque de Celsus - Wikipedia -
Celsus’s marble sarcophagus beneath the apse is decorated with garlands and a Medusa head.
Celsus-Bibliothek - Wikipedia
Shorts
History
Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus commissioned the library in the 110s CE as a tomb monument for his father, Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus. It was completed during Hadrian’s reign, after Aquila’s death, and served as a public library and mausoleum. The façade was reconstructed from 1970 to 1978.
- 92 CECelsus served as a Roman army commander and consul.
- 117–125His son Aquila and the family built the library as a public reading space and mausoleum. Its endowment funded books and upkeep.
- 262 CEA fire destroyed the library interior and its contents; the façade largely survived.
- 10th or 11th c.An earthquake destroyed the façade.
- 1903–1904Archaeologists uncovered parts of the building.
Show all
- 1970–1978Architect Friedmund Hueber and archaeologist Volker Michael Strocka reconstructed the façade.
Tips for your visit
- The ancient reading room was destroyed by fire; the surviving façade was reconstructed in the 1970s.
How to get there
- On footThe Kuretenstraße procession route ended at the library, west of the ancient marketplace.
Sources: Library of Celsus - Wikipedia · Bibliothèque de Celsus - Wikipedia · Celsus-Bibliothek - Wikipedia · Celsus Kütüphanesi - Wikipedia · checked 28 Oct 2026
Questions and answers
How do you get to the Library of Celsus from Selçuk?
It stands in ancient Ephesus near modern Selçuk. The Kuretenstraße procession route ended at the library, west of the ancient marketplace.
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