The Nymphaeum

The brick-built nymphaeum sits by the side of the principal road into Butrint. As it stands it consists of a semi-circular basin with three niches at the back, and with a large vaulted cistern to the rear. On top of the cistern there remains the plaster lining for a substantial water tank, the sides of which are now missing. The brick structure was obviously once lined with stone and stucco, most of which is now missing, though the fine moulded base still remains. The construction date is uncertain but is likely to have been in the 1st or 2nd centuries AD. During the excavations of the 1920s and 30s statues of Dionysus and Apollo were discovered lying within the basin, these may originally have stood within the niches at the back as part of the decoration.

While overtly a public fountain, the nymphaeum actually served a number of functions. It was at a fountain for travellers passing into and out of the city and as such a typical piece of civic munificence erected for public use. Originally it may have been part of a pair, the twin buildings facing each other across the roadway. This certainly is the arrangement of the larger and grander fountains that flank the road leading into the great Augustan city of Nicopolis to the south of Butrint. If this was the case here then the second structure now lies beneath the Great Basilica. This arrangement would have been a spectacular and imposing part of the approach to the tower gate at the end of the road.

Another function seems to have been as part of the aqueduct system of Butrint, perhaps as a settling tank or small castellum aquae, from where water could be channelled into different pipes and conduits. The foundations of the aqueduct piers can be seen on the southern side of the cistern, continuing along the road into the city. This was apparently how the cistern was filled. However, it is also clear that the northern branch of the aqueduct is a later addition, the north wall and the aperture there have been modified to take the channel, and the piers of the aqueduct are built on top of the road paving. Originally water must have been distributed in a different fashion, possibly from the upper tank.

 

• Gateway to Butrint
• The Tower Gate
• The Nymphaeum
• The Water Gate
• The Hellenistic Gate
• The Roman Gate
• The Medieval Gate