manticoreimaginary:

The Library of Celsus

Built in honor of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus in Ephesus, Anatolia (now Selçuk, Turkey), the library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus. Celsus is buried in a sarcophagus beneath the library, in the main entrance.

Construction was between 117-120 AD, and the building is important as one of the few remaining examples of an ancient Roman-influenced library. It also shows that public libraries were built not only in Rome itself but throughout the Roman Empire.

The interior of the library and all its books were destroyed by fire in the devastating earthquake that struck the city in 262. Only the facade survived.