Fountain of Trajan in Ephesus

The Roman Emperor Trajan was the second of the "five good Emperors". He was emperor between 98 and 117 A.D. In Ephesus they built an imperial Fountain for Trajan in the second century. In the Roman period they built many aqueducts to supply water to Ephesus. Some of them were 50 km long. In the second century Romans built a new aqueduct which was 39 km long. This fountain ended up at the Fountain of Trajan and water flowed under the statue of the emperor into the large pool below.

This pool was about 12meter to 5 meters large. Water was flowing into a smaller second pool, and people could take the water and make use. The marble fountain was consisting of two stories and was about 9.5 meters high. In the center there was a huge statue of Trajan's. Today only his feet are visible. They were other statues on the fountain; Statues of the member of the Imperial family, statues of Dionysus and more. Nearby there is an inscription which tells, that this monumental fountain in Ephesus, was built by Tiberius Claudius and dedicated to goddess Artemis and Trajan.

The Trajan Fountain was discovered in 1957 and restored in 1962.