puteal

thumb|upright|Roman marble puteal with Cult of Dionysus|Bacchic procession, late 1st-century CE A puteal (Latin: from puteus ("well") – : putealia) is a classical wellhead built around a water well's access opening.

==Description== thumb|right|Puteal with bas-relief in the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice The enclosure keeps people from falling down a well otherwise open at grade level. When equipped with a cast iron lid, as traditionally in the public squares, or campos, of Venice, Italy, the citizens and water supply were protected.