Saturday, September 15, 2012

The Ruins


Ancient Library of Celsus at Ephesus

Designed by the Roman architect Vitruoya, the library was built in memory of Celsus Polemeanus, who was a Roman senator, General Governor of the Province of Asia, and a great lover of books. Celsus' son, Julius Aquila, began the construction in 110 AD. The library was completed by Julius Aquila's successors in 135 AD.

The interior of the library measures 10,92 by 16,72 meters and is covered with decorative marble.
Between 12,000 and 15,000 scrolls were housed in the library.

In 262, during the Gothic attacks, the interior of the library was burnt completely but the facade was not affected much.

(photos: I took these photos of the Library of Celsus and the crowd when Cheri and I visited Ephesus in September, 2011.I might have shown these photos before.)
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.





11 comments:

Sim Carter said...

Oh my I love the column of colorfully clad people streaming through the scene.
Thanks for stopping by my blog too.

Christine Harding said...

I've not seen them before! Amazing architecture, and just think of all those scrolls burnt and lost... My Snapshot is here http://goo.gl/ZsnvZ

Trish said...

Wow that must have been something to see up close! Ruins always make me wonder how ancient civilizations built such enormous and elaborate structures.

About Last Weekend said...

It's inspiring to find out that they treasured books so much they housed them in such beautiful marble clad buildings.

Lmkazmierczak said...

Luv the photos♫♪ Thanks for sharing!

Louise said...

What an extraordinary place. Shame it was so crowded.

Sue Jackson said...

Wow, amazing photos here. I really LOVE your header photo especially.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend -

Sue

Book By Book

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I love libraries of all kinds...this one looks really impressive. Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.

Joy said...

Love photos of libraries. Even ruined ones, although I didn't know that until just now.

Joy's Book Blog

Leslie (Under My Apple Tree) said...

One can only imagine what the library looked like before it was ruined.

Alyce said...

I don't recall learning about this library before. Ancient libraries hold a fascination for all of that history that they encased.