April Destinations | The Ruins of Hadrian's Library in Athens Tell a Tale of Millennia of Literary Heritage.

Located about 300 meters north of the Acropolis in Athens, the ruins of Hadrian's Library were funded and constructed by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 132 AD. It is one of the three major royal buildings of ancient Athens. Modeled after the Roman Forum, the site is laid out in an east-west rectangular shape. Today, it features a 20-meter-high Corinthian-style portico and 12 remaining columns on the eastern side, with grapevine motifs on the lintel still clearly visible. The original complex included a library hall, tiered reading rooms, and a philosophy lecture hall. Its central courtyard could accommodate up to 500 people, and the vaulted colonnade design was once praised by scholars as the "academic heart of the Mediterranean." Despite enduring wars and earthquakes, only the portico, the western load-bearing wall, and the foundations of three classrooms remain. However, the surviving niches and drainage systems allow for the reconstruction of its three-story architectural structure.