The Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III (Turkish: III. Ahmet Çeşmesi) is a fountain in a Turkish rococo structure located in the great square in front of the Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace. It was built under the Ottoman sultan Ahmed III in 1728, in the style of the Tulip period. The fountain is a large square block built with five small domes. Mihrab-shaped niches decorated in low relief with foliate and floral designs in each of the four facades, each containing a drinking fountain (‘çeşme’). The water is supplied from an octagonal pool inside the kiosk, with circulation space around it for kiosk attendants. On each corner is a triple-grilled sebil (from which an attendant issued cups of water or sherbet, free of charge, from behind a grille). A çeşme (a kind of fountain) is a piece of architecture which supplies drinking water. They were connected to springs or aqueducts. Until the late 19th century most ‘çeşme’ operated by gravity, and needed a source of water higher than the fountain, such as a reservoir or aqueduct, to make the water flow. A sebil is a kiosk-shaped public fountain, with grilled office-windows where attendants handed fresh water over to the public. Generally a sebil had a cellar, where large blocks of ice were brought in during winter. So, in summer, the drinking water could be cooled before distributing it.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: (amongst others) ‘Guides Bleus: Turquie’ – Edition 198 & Wikipedia.