Fonte dos Leões

Fountain of the Lions (Fonte dos Leões)
Fountain (Fonte)
A view of the fountain in the Praça de Parada Leitão
Official name: Fonte dos Leões
Named for: Lions
Country  Portugal
Region Norte
Subregion Greater Porto
District Porto
Municipality Porto
Location Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória
 - coordinates PT 41°8′50″N 8°36′56″W / 41.14722°N 8.61556°W / 41.14722; -8.61556Coordinates: PT 41°8′50″N 8°36′56″W / 41.14722°N 8.61556°W / 41.14722; -8.61556
Architects Compagnie Générale des
Eaux pour l'Etranger
Style Roman
Material Marble
Origin 19th century
For public Public
Easiest access Vitória, Praça de Gomes Teixeira; Praça de Parada Leitão; Rua do Carmo; Praça Carlos Alberto; Rua de Sá Noronha; Praça de Guilherme Gomes Fernandes; Rua das Carmelitas
Management Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Operator Câmara Municipal de Sintra
Status Property of Public Interest
Imóvel de Interesse Público
Listing Included in the Special Protection Zone (ZPE) for the Church and Tower of the Clerics (PT011312150003)
Wikimedia Commons: Fonte dos Leões

The Fountain of the Lions (Portuguese: Fonte dos Leões), is a 19th century fountain built by French company Compagnie Générale des Eaux pour l'Etranger, in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória in municipality of Porto.

History

The Fountain of Lions
Detail of one of the sculptures of the winged lions

A competition was held in 1880, by the municipal water authority of Porto, under the direction of António Pinto de Magalhães (then president of Câmara Municipal of Porto).[1] This resulted in a 1882 contract with the only submeter, the Compagnie Générale des Eaux pour l'Etranger.[1] A decree was issued on 17 July 1882, which elaborated the and approved the provisional contract, which was promulgated on 27 July.[1]

Work was initiated in 1883, to begin the supply of water to the city.[1] This new project included a supply that included the design for the Lion fountain.[1] On 30 August 1883, the design was rejected by the municipal commission, but on 13 August 1885, the municipal representatives approved the project sent by Carlos de Pezerat (4 July).[1] Construction began on 25 September, and water began to flow as on 19 December 1886.[1]

By 1 January 1887, the public water supply project for the city of Porto was concluded.[1]

From 1942, the fountain was a less obligatory passage channels of the city, and began to be supplied by the Arca de Sá Noronha.[1]

Architecture

The fountain is located in an urban, isolated location, within the gardened Praça de Gomes Teixeira.[1]

The central fountain has a cruciform layout with a group of sculptures at the base supported by four seated lions on the extremes.[1] Between each lion, the axis of the source has a column with base, shaft and capital.[1] To top, two central, circular cups superimposed and staggered, with a pine cone surmounting all.[1] The octagonal shaped granite tank has rounded edges. The outer profile of the tank walls is corrugated.[1] The edge of the lower plane bowl is outlined in relief by a frieze with plant elements interrupted only by four cornets from which water flows.[1]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sereno, Isabel (1996), SIPA, ed., Fonte dos Leões (IPA.00003969/ PT011312150102) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, retrieved 20 November 2016

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.