Don't be fooled by the perspective – this Roman library was huge

The second-century structure is in the heart of Cologne

HI-FLYFOTO ON BEHALF OF THE ROMAN-GERMANIC MUSEUM OF COLOGNE X2, ALAMY X1, GETTY X2, PA X1

ANCIENT LIBRARY FOUND IN GERMANY

The Roman building may have rivalled the famed Celsus in Ephesus

Excavations at a church in Cologne have uncovered evidence of a 2,000-yearold Roman library that could have held up to 20,000 parchment and papyrus scrolls. Dating back to the second century AD, it is believed to be the oldest library to have been discovered in Germany, and has such wide foundations that it may have stood on two floors.

Authorities have known that there were Roman ruins in the grounds of the church, which is in centre of the city, since the late 19th century. Archaeologists from the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne undertook wider excavations in 2017, revealing a nine-by-20-metre building with niches in the walls. It’s now believed that this was a library, and it was in the niches that scrolls would have been kept.