During a sightseeing tour, many places of interest are visited. Among the most common are temples and palaces, for their sacred and solemn character, respectively. But culture lovers also greatly appreciate the visit to ancient libraries, considered authentic temples of knowledge and, in some cases, conceived as true palaces for their monumental architecture, something that began to take shape in the ancient world. Therefore, in our tours we add the visit to great ancient libraries, because in the countries of our catalog are some of the most important, if we take as a reference the list of the top-10 of National Geographic. Below we show you the four in question, not counting the Imperial Library of Constantinople and the one in Antioch, of which little remains of their memory or hypothesis.
Library of Alexandria, Egypt
In a list of the great libraries of the ancient world, the first place should undoubtedly go to the Library of Alexandria, since it was the pioneer and benchmark in the field. Built in this Egyptian city during the Ptolemaic dynasty (323-30 BC), promoted by its founder Ptolemy I Soter as part of alarger complex dedicated to knowledge (the Museion, protected by the Muses), it stood out not only for the number of volumes (more than 500,000, according to some estimates), but also for its quality, since here were preserved authentic works of scientific and literary reference.
However, in times of Roman domination it experienced a slow decline and ended up being destroyed, without yet knowing its true causes: looting, assaults (the most notorious, in the time of Julius Caesar) or natural disasters (earthquake and tsunami of 365 A.D.). At the end of the 20th century, the New Library was built as a great cultural center to continue the legacy of the original one.
Pergamon Library, Turkey
The Library of Pergamon is said to have been the great rival of the Library of Alexandria and is believed to have contained 200,000 volumes. Promoted by King Attalus I Sóter in the 2nd century BC, its success was also due to the impetus it gave to a new medium, parchment (hence its name), which eventually displaced the favorite in Alexandria, papyrus. However, its life was even shorter and, like that of Alexandria, had a traumatic end, in this case looting related to the power struggles between Mark Antony and Julius Caesar in the first century BC. Today, as a reminder, only a few archaeological remains remain on the Acropolis.
Library of Celsus, in Ephesus
This library did not enjoy as much prestige as the previous ones, but it has an advantage: its facade is preserved, which allows us to understand the importance given to it at the time: it was created by the Romans, between the first and third century AD, promoted by Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemianus, senator, consul and benefactor of Ephesus. He had so much affection and consideration for it, that he built it in memory of his deceased son and also conceived it asa real pantheon, as in fact his remains are preserved here, in a sarcophagus.
St. Catherine’s Library, Sinai (Egypt)
Finally, we also include a well-deserved mention of the Library of St. Catherine, in the monastery of the same name, in the Sinai Peninsula. Although it was conceived in Byzantine times (6th century), its interest lies not only in its antiquity, but also in the fact that it is still in full use today: it houses very important manuscripts, especially for Christian culture, such as the oldest surviving Bible, the Codex Sinaiticus. It is difficult to enter the monastery, as visits are restricted to researchers and other special users, but it is possible to consult its collections online and visit other parts of the monastery, such as its museum.
