37°03′35″N15°17′37″E / 37.059604°N 15.293694°E /37.059604; 15.293694
 La Grotta del Ninfeo | |
 Interactive map of Grotta del Ninfeo | |
| Location | Siracusa, Italy |
|---|---|
| Region | Sicily |
| Type | Nymphaeum,Mouseion |
| Part of | Greek Theatre of Syracuse |
| History | |
| Periods | Hellenistic & Roman |
| Cultures | Ancient Sicily |
| Satellite of | Ancient Syracuse |
| Management | Comune of Siracusa |
TheGrotta del Ninfeo is an artificial cavity in the rock of Temenite Hill (named after the Greektemenos, "sacred precinct") located in the Archaeological park ofNeapolis inSyracuse.
The grotta is located near the highest part of the little rocky relief, on a rectangular terrace which verges on theGreek theatre and opens at the centre of a stone wall where a closedportico in the form of an "L" was once found. At the entrance there were statues dedicated to theMuses, three of which (dated to the 2nd century BC)[1] are still preserved and are on display at theMuseo archeologico regionale Paolo Orsi. The fountain is dedicated to theAncient Greek cult of thenymphs, nature goddesses. The namenymphaeum for a monumental, decorated fountain derives from this.
The Syracusan nymphaeum is thought to have been the ancient location of theMouseion (the sanctuary of the Muses), seat of the artistic guild, where the Syracusan actors gathered before descending into the theatre to put oncomedies andtragedies in the time ofEpicharmus andAeschylus.
Regarding the Grotta del Ninfeo, the Syracusan Giuseppe Politi wrote in the nineteenth century:
There, with squared niches of various dimensions on all sides for votive tables and epitaphs, and further cells for catacombs, was a corridor in the living rock which we call theSepulchral street and a large grotto opens at one point, with vestiges on the outside oftriglyphs and with two aqueducts at the bottom, one vertically perpendicular to the other, encounter an artificial crack in the rock. This grotta is perennially supplied with water by one of these, on account of which it is called theGrotta dell'acqua. It may have originally been for the use of the victoriousEphebes of the Academy of Music just like the one thatPausanias says was at theTheatre of Athens. Alternatively, perhaps more likely, a nymphaeum, i.e. a grotto decorated with many statues of the nymphs, with water sports, as the name suggests.
— Giuseppe Politi,Siracusa pei viaggiatori [...][2] 1835
The grotto has avaulted ceiling and inside it there is a rectangular tub in which the water collects before cascading from a cavity located at the bottom of the rock wall. Next to the entrance, there are some votiveaedicula which were used for hero cults (Pinakes).[3] To the east of the Grotta del Ninfeo, the lastwatermill from theSpanish period remains visible even today. It took water from the grotta and redirected it into the theatre after using it to mill grain. From nymphaeum, one continues to theVia dei Sepolcri and from there to the summit of the hill, where there are other Graeco-Roman monuments.
The water that flows into the Grotta derives from two separateaqueducts, both of Greek date; one is called theAcquedotto del Ninfeo (Nymphaeum Aqueduct) after the Grotta,[4] while the other is theGalermi Aqueduct.[4]
During one of his trips to Syracuse in the second half of the 1700s, the painterJean-Pierre Houël depicted the Grotta del Ninfeo as he found it. Thegouache shows a much deeper grotta than today, with water descending towards the theatre, where the mills were installed. In the grotta, some women are busy making cloth.[5]
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