Water flows from the fountain in Kibyra 1300 years later

After the 1800-year-old Antonine Fountain, which was resurrected in the Ancient City of Sagalassos in 2010, the 2,000-year-old monumental fountain found in 2016 in Kibyra in Gölhisar district was brought together with spring water after approximately 9 months of restoration work by the Turkish excavation team.

The restoration of the monumental fountain with two pools, 168 of which is original and 192 architectural blocks, located on the third terrace of the city, has been completed with the contributions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Governorship of Burdur.

Known as the "city of gladiators" in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, the ancient city of Kibyra, which stands out with its odeon with medusa mosaics, stadium and huge theater, will increase its attraction even more with its fountain whose restoration has been completed and drinkable water flows.

Both of the monumental fountains with water flowing from the fountain are in Burdur.

Head of the Kibyra Ancient City Excavations Committee and Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Archeology Department Associate Professor Şükrü Özüdogru, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the excavations in Kibyra started in 2006 and they unearthed the monumental structures of the city first.

Pointing out that they completed the excavation of the round-planned monumental fountain in three seasons, and then they carried out a project with Turkish restoration teams to restore the fountain, Özü Doğru noted that they managed to get the spring water used in the ancient period, which they targeted, to flow from the fountain.

Emphasizing that the monumental fountain in Kibyra has a unique plan, Özü Doğru said, "We now have two ancient cities in Turkey, where water is brought from the original source to the fountains that have been erected. One of them was restored and water was brought in the ancient city of Sagalassos in Ağlasun district, and Kibyra became the second example of this in our country. The fact that both of them are in Burdur is a plus in terms of tourism."

The water of the spring used in ancient times flows from the mouth of the lion statues.

Pointing out that a fountain was built in the middle of the agora after the great earthquake in 23 AD, Özü Doğru said:

"We can say that the fountain consists of 3 main units. There is a tower rising in a round shape in the center, and there are 6 columns around this tower. Above the columns, it finds a conical roof decorated with reliefs. There are also two pools around this center. It has been in service for about 150 years after the first earthquake. There are 6 lion and panther statues in the center where the water comes from. We found two of these statues during excavations. The originals of the sculptures are exhibited in the Burdur Archeology Museum. For the restoration project, a sculpture shaving friend made imitations of these. Water flows into the pool from these statues. A second pool was added at the end of the second century AD. The second pool was actually very magnificent in the original, and there must have been 12 normal human-sized bronze statues on it. Unfortunately, we have not come across these statues in our excavations until now. Maybe we can reach these sculptures in the future.”

Noting that up to 700 fountains were used after Christ, Ozudogru said, "It is a fountain that has been used for about 700 years. Based on its last use, it regained its former function after 1300 years."

Stating that Kibyra is a cosmopolitan city where four different languages are spoken, Özüdogru stated that agriculture, animal husbandry, medicine, iron and ceramics work are common in the city, and that it has a strong economy and a strong army consisting of 30 thousand infantry and 2,000 horse cavalry.