Fountain of Trajan
The Fountain of Trajan (or Trajan Fountain), also known as the Nymphaeum Traiani (Nymphaeum of Trajan), was built 102-114 AD and financed by the wealthy Ephesian couple Tiberius Claudius Aristion and Iulia Lydia Laterane (see Selçuk gallery 2, page 4) who dedicated the monument to Artemis of Ephesus and Emperor Trajan. Aristion was also responsible for the completion of the Library of Celsus, and like the library the nymphaeum had a two-storey aedicular facade decorated with statues.
A colossal statue of Emperor Trajan (reigned 98-117 AD) standing on a globe stood in the central niche of the facade, above the fountain's water outlet which fed a pool measuring 20 x 10 metres. The other statues included depictions of Dionysus of the Tiber-Apollo type (Inv. No. 769), a Satyr, Aphrodite and members of the emperor's family, which are now in the Ephesus Museum in Selcuk.
The nymphaeum was reconstructed during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I. It was excavated in 1958. The facade was around 9.5 metres tall, while the present reconstruction of the facade, made from surviving parts, is considerably smaller. Other parts monument and some inscriptions are displayed in the main pool, which is below the present level of the street, and next to the monument. |
