PATRAS - 2001

Patras, Agios Nikolaos Vlaterou. The 6th EBA reports the discovery of part of the water supply system of the medieval city (a cistern, water channel and cleaning/ventilation shaft) beneath the floor of the central and north naves.

The vaulted cistern, which stored water from a nearby spring, fed a water channel which was uncovered for a length of 6m, and which had a steady incline from east to west to facilitate the flow of the water. Its walls were lined with hydraulic cement and it was covered with large limestone slabs: there were arched openings in the channel walls and a terracotta pipe to manage overflow. The cleaning/ventilation shaft has a round mouth covered with a slab.