Peirene Fountain

Peirene Fountain. . English Text:, Peirene is one of the most important topoi in the urban landscape of both Greek and Roman Corinth. Human activity is attested in the area from the Neolithic period, and the first efforts in water management date to the Geometric period. The facility was gradually embellished from the Archaic period forward, so that by the 2nd century B.C., it consisted of six chambers providing access to three deep draw basins supplied with water by conduits excavated hundreds of meters back under the forum. The water was stored in four huge reservoirs., Peirene was one of the first structures rebuilt after the establishment of the Roman colony. The fountain was now housed within a large rectangular court. The facade of this phase had Doric half-columns between arches framing the earlier antechambers. The second storey was a solid wall with engaged Ionic half-columns. The Doric and Ionic blind colonnade also adorned the east and west walls of the court. The central sunken rectangle is a draw basin accessed by a short broad stair and not a pool. Waterspouts in the sides of the basin were served by large conduits running under the courtyard floor., Following the partial destruction of the earlier phase, perhaps by earthquake, the east and west apses were added in Late Antiquity and the reused marble columns and their decorative “outlookers” in front of the facade are Byzantine additions. In later centuries, the ground level rose and the court was occupied by a small chapel and cemetery. Even after the fountain and courtyard were completely buried, the fountain continued to provide water for the village fountains and numerous wells., Myth records two origins for the spring. In one Poseidon’s lover Peirene literally dissolved into tears when Artemis accidentally killed her son Kenchrias. The other attributes its creation to the hoof print of the winged horse Pegasus when he stamped in irritation on being bridled by Bellerophon.