Library of Celsus

A reconstruction, imagined

Drag to look around. Tap the round markers to learn what you are looking at.

1. 1Hall of the Library of Celsus after Strocka's measurements: apse, niches, 0.94 m podium, columns and a gallery. The image has two rows of niches where Strocka reconstructs three, and one doorway where the facade had three (reconstruction, imagined)Generated image, not a photograph. Based on Strocka: hall 16.72 by 10.92 m; ten niches at floor level, two on each side of the apse and three each on the south and north walls, 2.55 m high and 0.57 to 0.60 m deep; thirty wall cabinets in three rows, the third row probable; podium 0.94 m high; gallery about 4.30 m above the podium; a wooden ceiling 12.15 m above a marble floor; three entrances in the facade wall, the middle one wider and higher, with windows above; a crypt with the donor's sarcophagus under the apse. The image is a 360 view from the middle of the hall: apse wall in the centre, long walls to each side, entrance wall split across the two edges. It follows the record in an empty apse, a continuous podium, columns on the podium, a gallery with a shorter row of columns above, and a flat wooden ceiling. Not matched: it shows two rows of niches, not three; the niche count per wall cannot be read off the image; the entrance wall shows one doorway, not three; daylight and an outer colonnade show at the image edges, which the record does not give; the proportions are not checked against the metres. Guessed: the niche doors, the capital style, marble colours, ceiling boards and floor slab layout

   • The apse

     Object, in an imagined view

     A large arched niche closes the far wall, above a crypt that held the donor's sarcophagus. Strocka writes: "We will never know whose statue stood in the apse of the Celsus library." The image leaves the niche empty, in the centre of the far wall.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Niches beside the apse

     Shelf, in an imagined view

     Strocka records two niches on each side of the apse. The image shows niches with wooden doors beside the apse, on two levels. The doors and frames are guesses.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Wall niches for cupboards

     Shelf, in an imagined view

     Ten niches were left in the walls of the 16.72 by 10.92 m hall at floor level: two on each side of the apse and three each on the south and north walls. Each is 2.55 m high and 0.57 to 0.60 m deep. Strocka reconstructs thirty wall cabinets in three rows and calls the third row probable. The image shows tall niches on the long walls, some with wooden doors, in two rows, and three per wall cannot be counted in it. The doors and the stone frames are guesses.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • The podium

     Object, in an imagined view

     In front of the niches ran a continuous podium 0.94 m high and 1.02 m wide, with no steps up to it. Attendants would have used movable wooden steps. The image shows a continuous marble podium with no steps along the walls. Its height and width are not checked against the metres.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Columns on the podium

     Object, in an imagined view

     Traces in the back wall show that columns stood on the podium. The image has fluted Corinthian marble columns standing on it. The capital style and the marble colour are guesses.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Gallery level

     Object, in an imagined view

     Traces in the back wall show that columns carried an entablature and a gallery floor about 4.30 m above the podium, and Strocka thinks a second, shorter row of columns carried a third level. The image shows a gallery level with a shorter row of columns above it. The balustrade and the openings behind the columns are guesses.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Entrance wall

     Object, in an imagined view

     Strocka records three entrances in the facade wall, the middle one wider and higher, with windows above them. The entrance wall is split across the two edges of the image and shows a single doorway with an opening above it and daylight beyond. One doorway is wrong: the record has three.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Ceiling

     Object, in an imagined view

     Strocka gives the wooden ceiling as 12.15 m above the marble floor. The image has a plain flat timber ceiling, which fits the record. The record says nothing about how the ceiling was finished, so the plank pattern is a guess.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source

   • Marble floor

     Object, in an imagined view

     Strocka records a marble floor. The image has one. The slab layout is a guess.

     This view is imagined. The thing described was found on the ground, and the source below says by whom.

     excavated secondary Source