Celsus’s library and sculpture in the ancient city of Efes
The Library of Celsus is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Anatolia, which is now part of Selçuk, Turkey. The structure was built as a funerary monument for the former proconsul of Asia, Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, and was completed during Hadrian’s reign. Nowadays, this is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The library is an architectural marvel and one of the largest libraries in the Roman world, after Alexandria and Pergamum, and was thought to have held around 1000 scrolls. However, in 262 C.E., the library’s interior was destroyed by a fire caused by an earthquake.