Library West Wall

Library West Wall

View looking southwest at the west wall of the Library at Nysa.  Left of center is the entrance (on the south) to the building.

This structure was built around AD 130.  It was at least two, and possibly three-stories high.  This is the best-preserved library in Anatolia—the famous "library" at Ephesus is a reconstruction!

It was a multi-functional building that served as a library, auditorium, and courthouse.  There were shelves for the scrolls/codices and a platform for judges and tribunals.  Stairways led up to the second and third stories.  During the sixth-century it went out of use as a library and eventually served for workshops, living quarters, and burials.