, of Cyresthes, a Greek architect, is celebrated for having constructed
, of Cyresthes, a Greek architect, is celebrated for having constructed at Athens the Tower of the Winds, an octagon building, on each of the sides of which was a figure, in sculpture, representing one of the winds. He named them Solanus, Eurus, Auster, Africaiius, Favonius, Corus, Septentrio, and Aquilo. On the top of this tower was a small pyramid of marble, which supported a piece of mechanism somewhat like the modern weathercock. It consisted of a brass Triton, which turned on a pivot, and pointed with its rod to the side of the tower on which was represented the wind that then happened to blow. From the bad style of the architecture of the figures, it is supposed to have been constructed posterior to the time of Pericles. Being built of large blocks of marble it has withstood the ravages of time, and the upper part only is destroyed, but the whole has sunk about twelve feet. As each of the sides had a sort of dial, it is conjectured that it formerly contained a clypsedra, or water-clock. The roof was of marble, shaped in the form of tiles, a mode which was invented by Byzes, of Naxos, in 580 B. C. It now serves as a mosque to some dervises. Spon, Wheeler, Leroi, and Stuart, have given ample descriptions of this ancient structure.