From Kuşadası, we drove to the ruins of Ephesus, an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia in southwestern Turkey, although more than a millennium later it’s totally inland now. It was built in the 10th century B.C. by Greek colonists and was one of the 12 cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Romans in 129 B.C.

The Library of Celsus, the façade of which has been carefully reconstructed from original pieces, was originally built c. 125 A.D. in memory of a governor of Roman Asia, who paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth and who is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it. It once held nearly 12,000 scrolls. Designed with an exaggerated entrance — so as to enhance its perceived size, speculate many historians — the building faces east so that the reading rooms could make best use of the morning light.

We visited Ephesus several times and I do have newer (and digital) pictures of it, but these few images are from our very first trip there.

Skylight at the old Le Meridien, posted earlier: