Water Nymphs and the Kolymbos?: The Laskarid Palace at Nymphaion Revisited

Authors : Suna Çağaptay

Pages : 291-320

Doi:10.18026/cbayarsos.1669375

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Publication Date : 2025-12-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article focuses on the Nymphaion Palace in Kemalpaşa, İzmir and situates it within the Laskarid imperial and palatial aspirations using the results of the salvage excavations conducted in 2002 and 2008-2012. As the founding and ruling dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea, which lasted from 1204 to 1261, Laskarids ruled via multiple centers, controlling western and northwestern Anatolia and the Aegean islands, and the Nymphaion acted as the winter residence. Previously, this palace was analyzed in terms of its typology and construction techniques. However, salvage excavations revealed fascinating evidence that completely changed our understanding of the Laskarid palatial aspirations, one based on bathing practices. Using textual and archaeological evidence, this article examines the aquatic aspirations in the Laskarid court and offers a nuanced interpretation of the architectural framework of the ground floor. First and foremost, it suggests the term kolymbos, a tholos-shaped pond only found hitherto in textual accounts of the middle Byzantine period that has been discovered archaeologically at the Nymphaion. Then, it examines the Laskarid hydraulic setting at the Nymphaion and its cross-cultural reflections.
Keywords : Nif Sarayı, Laskaris Hanedanlığı, Bizans arkeolojisi

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