The round fountain
structure decorated with columns, embossed friezes and sculptures was unearthed
during the 2016 excavations in the city square functioning as a social and
cultural gathering area on the level of Terrace III of the Agora.
The structure consists of a round body with a
water system laid in the center, formed with blockwork, and two circular pools,
one inside and one outside, surrounding it. The central structure is covered
with a conical roof carried by columns. The fountain, which was apparently
built for the first time after the earthquake of 23 AD, has three different
phases of use: In its first phase of use, it consists of a single pool and a
circular body with a central water system, and a second pool was probably added
in the late second and early third centuries AD. Although it is understood that
the roof of the fountain collapsed and was extensively damaged in the 417 AD
earthquake; archaeological data show that the structure was used with the same
function in the Late Eastern Roman Period, probably until the end of the VII
century AD, after some renovations. The excavations revealed that the building
was not only a fountain (nymphaion), but also a castellum that provided water
distribution to its immediate surroundings; and a visual water monument
decorated with sculptures, columns and architrave-friezes with girlanded
architraves carrying the conical roof. Due to its location, it was placed in
the busiest square of the city, visible to those coming to the Agora from the
direction of the Theater and Odeion, as well as from the direction of the
Stadion.
The
diameter of the structure, together with the stone drainage troughs surrounding
the outer round pool, is 14.91 meters in total, and its estimated height should
have been approximately 8 meters with the conical roof covering only the
central body through which the water system passes. In its current state after
the restoration was completed, it is 6.76 meters high. The thick-walled main
funnels supplying water to the fountain, which only had a central cylindrical
body and a single pool in Phase I, were made of terracotta. The water from the
ancient spring in the Böğrüdelik plateau was poured into the first pool through
six marble statues between the supporting columns in the central platform. Only
two of these statues were recovered during the excavations, depicting Heracles
reclining on a lion's pelt and Dionysus the Younger reclining on a panther's
pelt. According to the traces on the outer pool, there should have originally
been twelve bronze statues on the outer pool. Unfortunately, no trace of them
was found.
The
restoration project prepared for the Nymphaeum, which was approved by the
decision of the Antalya Regional Board for the Protection of Cultural and
Natural Heritage dated 30.07.2021 and numbered 12576, was carried out by the
Kibyra Excavation Team between August and October 2022. The restored structure
was raised to its feet and water from the ancient spring was poured, thus restoring it to its original function two thousand years after its first
construction.
