DH.021 Roman Fountain at the Castalian Spring

Preview

Creator

Denis Baly

Creation Year

1978

Image ID

DH.021

Subcollection

DH: Delphi

Abstract

View of the Roman Fountain built at the Castalian Spring. The spring has been a place of worship for centuries, and visitors to the site would bathe in the water before visiting Delphi.

Description

The Roman Fountain, also called the Later Fountain, constructed in the 1st century BCE on the Castalian Spring. Earlier fountains have been found from the 5th and 7th centuries, but this is the most well preserved and famous one. It was customary that religious visitors to Delphi would bathe in the spring waters before entering, and since Roman times it has been believed that the spring inspired the muse of poetry. The niches carved into the rock once held offerings to the nymph Castalia, and were later turned into Christian shrines. The basin at the bottom was used to collect the water, and itself overflowed into some larger basins downhill.

Image Notes

Creation date unknown. Photograph processed July 1978. Notes written on the slide or index: Delphi - The Later Castilian Fountain.

Image Format

35 mm slide

Geographic Reference

Delfoi, Greece