Kourion Complex (Apollo) post 1945 (1 of 2)

Continued from scan 9

… -10-

face of the west wall near the northwest corner of the building. It entered a stone box near the ground. A horizontal line, also fitted to the same stone box, brought the water to the cistern. These pipes have been re-burried for protection.

Cistern 2 probably stored water from the roof of the Northwest Building. An auxiliary small cistern lies just south of it. One can see two stones projecting from the inner face of the south wall of the main cistern. These were steps for the man who went down to clean it. A vertical pipe line in the south wall served as an overflow. The water passed through this pipe into a stone box immediately to the south of the cistern (plan, fig. 1). From here one pipe line brought the water probably to Cistern 3, and another to the Apollo Baths. In the northwest corner of Cistern 2, near the top, there is a trace of a pipe line which brought spring water to the cistern from springs in the vicinity of the village of Sotira about two miles to the north. This pipe line was laid, probably, after the earthquake of 76-77 A.D. At about this time Cistern 3 discontinued from use. Possibly it was damaged by the earthquake and in view of the availability of spring water was not repaired. This cistern, which one will find with help of the general plan (fig. 1) near the east end of the large square, has the shape of a large pithos, or storage jar. There is a setting pit at the bottom.

Most of the pavement of the square has disappeared. The visitor will note small trenches here and there over the area it occupied. These are to show the drains which led the dirty rain water from the square to the lower ground beyond the eastern limits of the