Editing Impluvium (section)

== Greco-Roman ''impluvium'' ==

In Greco-Roman architectural studies, the ''impluvium'' refers to the sunken part of the [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]] in a Greek or Roman house (''[[domus]]''), designed to carry away the rainwater falling from the ''compluvium'' of the roof. It is usually made of [[marble]] and placed about 30&nbsp;cm below the floor of the atrium, and emptied into a subfloor cistern.<ref>John J. Dobbins and Pedar W. Foss, The World of Pompeii, Routledge Press, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-415-47577-8}}</ref>

=== Construction and use ===
[[File:I08 159 Haus des Menander, Atrium.jpg|thumb|left|''Impluvium'' in the center of the atrium of the [[House of Menander]], Pompeii]]
Inspection (without excavation) of ''impluvia'' in Paestum, Pompeii and Rome indicated that the pavement surface in the ''impluvia'' was porous, or that the non-porous stone tiles were separated by gaps significant enough to allow a substantial quantity of water caught in the basin of the ''impluvium'' to filter through the cracks and, beyond, through layers of gravel and sand into a holding chamber below ground. A circular stone opening protected with a [[puteal]] allows easy access by bucket and rope to this private, filtered and naturally cooled water supply.

Similar water supplies were found elsewhere in the public spaces of the city, with their stone puteals showing the wear patterns of much use. In wet seasons, excess water that could not pass through the filter would overflow the basin and exit the building, and any sediment or debris remaining in the surface basin could be swept away. In hot weather, water could be drawn from the cistern chamber (or fetched by slaves from supplies outside the ''domus'') and cast into the shallow pool to evaporate and provide a cooling effect to the entire atrium: as the water evaporated, air drawn in through the ''compluvium'' was cooled and moved throughout the house to cool the surrounding living spaces, a form of [[passive cooling]]. The combination of ''compluvium'' and ''impluvium'' formed an ingenious, effective and attractive manner of collecting, filtering and cooling rainwater.