Pergamon - Library

Adjoining the north colonnade of the Temple of Athena in Pergamon stood the famous library built about 170 B.C. With its 200,000 volumes ("volumes" in the sense of folded sheets of parchment rather than the older parchment rolls) it was one of the largest libraries in the Ancient World. The collection was later presented to Cleopatra by Antony and carried off to Alexandria. The main hall of the library contained a copy of Phidias' "Athena Parthenos".