Ancient staircase to library uncovered at Nysa

AYDIN

At the ancient city of Nysa in the Sultanhisar district of Aydın, home to one of western Anatolia’s best-preserved ancient libraries, archaeologists have uncovered 1,800-year-old steps that provided access to the library.

Excavations at Nysa, known as a “double-sided” city because it was built on a valley with two slopes and famed as an education and culture center during the Roman period, are being carried out under the leadership of Professor Serdar Hakan Öztaner from the Archaeology Department of Ankara University’s Faculty of Languages, History and Geography.

With a history dating back 2,300 years and rising among olive trees, the ancient city stands out with its gymnasium, theater, stadium, agora, council building, wide streets, the Temple of Akharaka and one of the best-preserved libraries in western Anatolia.

Professor Öztaner said the ancient geographer Strabo was educated in Nysa and referred to it as a “double-sided” city.

Explaining that they excavated the main street extending from the central bridge on the city’s western side toward Akharaka last year as part of the “Heritage for the Future Project,” Öztaner said: "In 2025, our excavation work on this street progressed, and when we reached the axis of the library, we uncovered the steps connecting the street to the library. These steps were important for us because we did not know how the library was connected to the street or how the two-meter elevation difference was overcome. Revealing this was an important and pleasing discovery for us. This year, we have uncovered the access steps leading up to the library structure, which we date to around 1,800 years ago.”

Öztaner said the library was built in A.D. 130 and that they have determined the street system dates back to the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus.

“We believe that the steps leading up to the library were built on the main street that existed in the second century. With five steps, one reaches a marble-paved courtyard. In other words, the steps are located at the very center of the block on which the library stands and provide access to the marble-paved courtyard in front of the library,” he said.

Stressing that the Nysa Library was built after the Celsus Library in Ephesus and is among the best-preserved libraries in western Anatolia, Öztaner said: “We know that this library, which visitors to Nysa admire, had 16 bookcases and, as mentioned in ancient sources, housed important manuscripts of the ancient world.”