Subsequent completion

Once the two sections of the tunnel were successfully joined, three further works remained. First of all, a channel now had to be excavated with the necessary gradient to allow the water to flow constantly. This was first done to one side of the floor of the tunnel; but it appears that, due to what Kienast sees as a lowering of the level of the spring, a subsidiary tunnel had to be dug below the existing one, at a substantially lower level. This was created by sinking broad shafts down from the side of the floor, approximately every 12m, and connecting them below into a continuous sloping waterway; the southern exit is about 4.7m lower than the northern entrance, representing a gradient of 1:220. This lower tunnel was then lined with terracotta ducts for the water. Next the water had to be brought in a superficial, but hidden, aqueduct from the spring at Aghiades to the north entrance of the tunnel. Finally another aqueduct had to link the southern exit to cisterns and the network of pipes and fountains across the inhabited area of the city. This runs parallel to the hillside and is sunk below ground; the regular shafts used for its construction are visible beside (mostly below, but latterly above) the road which leads to the site.

Samos Island is part of the Northern Aegean Island Group, Greece.

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