The construction of the Celsus Library was ordered by Council Julius Aquila in the name of his father Julius Celsus Palemaeanus. It was built in 110 A.D. The Celsus Library is one of the most spectacular buildings in Ephesus. The tomb of Julius Celsus Palemaeanus can be found in a special-made room on the ground floor.
On the outside it has two floors, and in the inside it has only one 15 m. Salon. Light comes in through the windows scattered on the walls and the three floored galleries. The entry to the library was through the 9 step stone stairs from the Currettes Road and reaching to the podium which was base to the four double Corinthian columns supporting the building. These columns stand on square shaped pedestals. Right behind the columns after a narrow walk-way there were three gates. The middle one is wider and higher than the others.
The interior of the library, measuring 10.92m by 16.72m, is lined with decorative marble. The section of the west wall over Celsus' remains is aspidal. A statue of Celsus, or of his son, was found during excavation and is still on exhibition in Istanbul at the Archeology Museum and was thought to have rested in this niche. On the walls were niches for the scrolls of the library. From the niches in the upper wall it is understood that the interior was not two-floored but that there was a mezzanine balcony instead. The space behind the walls was left open to guard the scrolls from moisture. The niches could have held as many as 12,000 scrolls. Because the library was built after the buildings on either side of it, it was a bit squeezed in. Thus, the desired monumental effect was enhanced by certain tricks played with the perspective. The podium, on which the columns re
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