Nymphaeum Traiani (Ephesus)

The Nymphaeum Traiani is an ancient fountain complex (nymphaeum) in Ephesus near Selçuk in the Turkish province of İzmir.

As the two‑line donor inscription on the architrave of the lower floor shows, the fountain was dedicated by Tiberius Claudius Aristion and his wife Iulia Lydia Laterane for the Artemis of Ephesus and Emperor Trajan (hence the modern name) as the terminus of a 210‑stadia (approximately 39 km) long water conduit. On the basis of this inscription the construction can be dated to the years between 102 and 114 AD.

The rectangular fountain basin, measuring 11.90 × 5.40 m, was framed on three sides by an originally about 9.50 m high façade. While the architrave of the lower floor runs straight on the two sides, the rear main side has a twisted entablature. Because the architrave of the upper floor was offset and interlaced, a large niche is formed in the centre, in which a statue of Emperor Trajan was placed. Statues were also placed in the other intercolumniations.

The water flowed beneath the statue—thus at the feet of the emperor—into the fountain basin. A narrower trough was placed in front of the main basin toward the street, from which the water could be drawn.

The Nymphaeum Traiani was uncovered in 1957 during an excavation of the Kureten Street. In 1962 it received its present appearance through the installation of an architectural sample by the architect H. Pellionis.