A puteal (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: from ''puteus'' (well) — plural: ''putealia''
[Venetian Wellheads @ Venipedia](_blank)
Accessed May 25, 2012. ) is a classical
wellhead
A wellhead is the component at the surface of an oil or gas well that provides the structural and pressure-containing interface for the drilling and production equipment.
The primary purpose of a wellhead is to provide the suspension point and ...
built around a
water well
A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. Th ...
's access opening.
Description
![Venice - Well in the Campo S](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Venice_-_Well_in_the_Campo_S._Giovanni_e_Paolo.jpg)
The enclosure keeps people from falling down a well otherwise open at grade level.
[John Weale, ''Rudimentary Dictionary of Terms Used in Architecture, Civil, Architecture, Naval, Building and Construction, Early and Ecclesiastical Art, Engineering, Civil, Engineering, Mechanical, Fine Art, Mining, Sur-veying, Etc., to Which Are Added Explanatory Observations on Numerous Subjects Connected with Practical Art and Science''. (London: J. Weale, 1849), pg. 364.] When equipped with a
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
lid, as traditionally in the public squares, or ''campos'', of
Venice, Italy
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...
, the citizens and water supply were protected.
Putealia were used as an accessible point of water distribution, and as an aesthetic architectural element. Locations included public
town square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...
s and private
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
s.
They were often found in
atriums, where they gave access to the water cistern fed by the ''
impluvium
The ''impluvium'' (pl. ''impluvia'') is a water-catchment pool system meant to capture rain-water flowing from the ''compluvium'', or slanted roof. Often placed "inside", instead of "outside", a building, it is a notable feature in many archite ...
''.
Classical putealia
The classical puteal is made of carved stone, often
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
in Europe. They are frequently decorated with
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s of classical Greek and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
themes around their outer faces. An
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
one was in the
Puteal Scribonianum
The ''Puteal Scribonianum'' (Scribonian Puteal) or ''Puteal Libonis'' (Puteal of Libo) was a structure in the Forum Romanum in Ancient Rome. p. 434 A puteal was a classical wellhead, round or sometimes square, placed atop a well opening to keep peo ...
structure in the
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...
, nothing remains.
The term is also used for circular classical remains (
spolia
''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...
) recycled after antiquity into wellheads, such as the
Guildford Puteal
The Guilford Puteal is a Pentelic marble Ancient Roman sculpture. Its name derives from its use as a puteal or wellhead, and one of its previous owners, Frederick North, second Earl of Guilford. Its discovery in Corinth gives rise to an altern ...
at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
See also
*
Bidental
]
In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, a Bidental was a sacred shrine erected on the spot where lightning had struck.
Creation
Any remains and scorched earth at the spot were to be burned in a hole at the location by priests cal ...
*
Fontus, Fontus (Fons) — the ancient Roman god of fountains and wellheads
*
Wishing well
A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the notion that water housed deities or had been placed there as a ...
References
Water wells
Architectural elements
Ancient Roman architectural elements
Garden ornaments
Street furniture
Stone sculptures
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