Fontana dei Ciechi

This fountain, a work of sober civic dignity, stands as a quiet testament to the stonecutter’s art. Its façade is built from regular courses of squared stone, tripartite in plan, with four pilasters shouldering a weighty entablature. Above, a pediment rises, its elliptical central frame adorned with carved friezes, linked by volutes to decorative pinnacles set above each pilaster. Two watering troughs flank the structure with a pleasing symmetry, while the three bronze spouts, the ‘mouths’ from which the water once flowed, are the only concession to metalwork. Such fountains were once the vital, unremarkable heart of Italian towns: a place for filling a bucket, watering a horse, or pausing to exchange the day’s news. Here, the practical and the ornamental are held in careful balance, the whole composition a sturdy, unshowy piece of urban furniture that has earned its quiet place in the piazza.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.