Impluvium
The impluvium ( Latin im- = in-, down-, pluvia = rain) is a water basin in the Roman atrium , a centrally located room in a residential building of the Italian type.
The impluvium is a rectangular, flat collecting basin in the center of the atrium under the compluvium , the roof opening of the atrium. The impluvium is usually about 30 cm deep and is used to catch the rainwater collected from the surrounding roof surfaces and directed downwards through the compluvium, which is collected in a cistern under the impluvium, from where it flows through a puteal at the edge of the Impluviums can be scooped up. Most often the impluvium is clad with marble .
literature
- Walter Hatto Gross : Impluvium. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 2, Stuttgart 1967, column 1383 f.
Web links
Commons : Impluvia - collection of images, videos and audio files
