Celcus Library and other Ephesus, Turkey Things to Do Tips

One of the finest structures in Ephesus, the Celsus Library has recently been restored. Raised on a high plinth, the building is approached via a broad flight of steps.
It was built by the Consul Gaius Julius Aquila in 135 AD. as a heroon in honour of his father, Celsus Polemaeanus, the governor of Asia Minor. The façade is highly ornamented on two levels, and there are three main portals. Over the portals were columns and statues arranged in niches. These statues were female figures representing the virtues wisdom, fate and intellegence. Niches on the interior of the building were designeo to hold books. The tomb of Celsus was placed in a crypt below the central large niche.
According to the inscription on the architrave of the building, its patron, C.Aquila, died before it was completed, and the construction was carried on by his heirs. Aquila left 25 thousand dinar for the acquisition of books for the library

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Built in honour of the Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD.). The pool was 20 m. long and 10 m. wide. It has been partially restored. Originally the pool was flanked by columns and statuary. The statues are now on display in the Ephesus Museum. The fasade overlooking the pool contained a colossal statue of Trajan in the centre, the feet of which remain in situ. Parts of the torso were also found during excavation. This is one of the finest monuments in Ephesus.

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Completely surrounded by columns, this Agora contained three entrances, one from the Celsus Library, one from the front of the Theatre, and one from the Harbour. In the form of a square 110 metres on a side, the north side of the Agora is left open, while the remaining three sides are surrounded by a portico which contained shops. The eastern and southern sides of the Agora were two-storeyed, the second storey of the eastern side being constructed in the form of an enclosed Doric stoa.
Originally built in the Hellenistic Period, the Agora was reconstructed in the 3rd century during the reign of Caracalla (211-217 A.D.). At the centre of the Agora was a sundial and a water-clock. The centre of the square was faced in marble and contained statues of the philosophers, statesmen, and of scholars.

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The foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar to most temples at the time. Unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building was made of marble, with a decorated façade overlooking a spacious courtyard. Marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which was approximately 80 m by 130 m in plan. The columns were 20 m high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. There were 127 columns in total, aligned orthogonally over the whole platform area, except for the central cella or house of the goddess.
The temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time. When St Paul visited the city, the temple was adorned with golden pillars and silver statuettes, and was decorated with paintings. There is no evidence that a statue of the goddess herself was placed at the center of the sanctuary, but there is no reason not to believe so.
The early detailed descriptions of the temple helped archeologists reconstruct the building. Many reconstructions depicted the fasade with a four-column porch which never existed. More accurate reconstructions may give us an idea about the general layout of the temple. However, its true beauty lies in the architectural and artistic details which will forever remain unknown.

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This street, which starts at the Celsus Library and extends east to the Magnesia Gate, is known as the Street of the Curettes, and takes its name from the class of priests referred to as "curettes" in long lists found at the clerical schovl of chief priests. These priests guarded the sacred fire of the Goddess Hestia (Vesta). The street is decorated with fountains, monuments, statues, and galleries containing mosaics. On one side there are shops behind the columned porticoes.
The street assumed its final appearance in the 4th and 5th centuries.

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This theatre, which had a seating capacity of 25,000 was first constructed during the Hellenistic period, although the present structure dates from the 1-2nd centuries AD. The Roman Theatre was begun during the reign of Claudius (34-41 A.D.), and it took 60 years to build. The second and third storeys of the skene (25x40 m) were constructed during the reigns of the emperors Nero (54-68 A.D.) and Septimus Severus ( 193-211 AD.). Only parts of the skene now date from the Hellenistic period. The Theatre has three cavea, each 22 rows, to which access was obtained via flights of steps between the cavea. The skene is 18 m. in height and the inner façade was ornamented with reliefs, columns, blind niches, windows and decorated with statues on three levels. The semicircular orchestra, surrounded by a channel, fronted a second skene supported on columns, 2.70 metres in height, which was approached by flights of steps. This section of the skene was used during the Roman period.

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