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Nymphaeum
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<p>A <i>nymphaeum</i> (<a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> pl.: <i>nymphaea</i>) or <i>nymphaion</i> (<a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_language/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a>: νυμφαῖον, <a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Ancient_Greek/KTELT9Aq">romanized</a>: <i>nymphaîon</i>), in <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greece/PTVBrWXq">ancient Greece</a> and <a href="/facts/Ancient_Rome/cGqIuxPd">Rome</a>, was a <a href="/facts/Monument/p4Gs7ABC">monument</a> <a href="/facts/Sanctuary/ujecJvaP">consecrated</a> to the <a href="/facts/Nymph/IfccICyh">nymphs</a>, especially those of <a href="/facts/Spring_(hydrosphere)/blPBY4VG">springs</a>. </p><p>These monuments were originally natural <a href="/facts/Grotto/AnGabRck">grottoes</a>, which tradition assigned as habitations to the local nymphs. They were sometimes so arranged as to furnish a supply of water, as at Pamphylian <a href="/facts/Side,_Turkey/T96Y05Vs">Side</a>. A nymphaeum dedicated to a local water nymph, <a href="/facts/Coventina/o2eav1pC">Coventina</a>, was built along <a href="/facts/Hadrian%27s_Wall/tsvxXKxH">Hadrian's Wall</a>, in the northernmost reach of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, artificial grottoes took the place of natural ones. </p>