Fontaine de la Rotonde explained

The Fontaine de la Rotonde is a historic fountain in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.

Location

It is located on the Place de la Rotonde, at the bottom of the Cours Mirabeau in the centre of Aix-en-Provence.[1] [2] [3] [4]

History

The Place de la Rotonde was built from 1840 to 1850.[1] Ten years later, in 1860, Théophile de Tournadre designed this fountain.[1] [2] [3] [4]

It is 32 metre wide and 12 metre high.[3] It is surrounded by bronze sculptures of twelve lions, sirens and angels on the backs of swans.[3] At the top of the fountain are three sculptures of female figures presenting Justice (towards the Cours Mirabeau), Agriculture (towards Marseille) and the Fine Arts (towards Avignon).[1] [3] [4] They were sculpted by Joseph-Marius Ramus (1805-1888), Hippolyte Ferrat (1822-1882) and Louis-Félix Chabaud (1824-1902).[1] [3]

The water first came from the Zola Canal built in 1854.[1] In 1875, it came from the Verdon Canal.[1] It now comes from the Canal de Provence.[1]

References

43.5263°N 5.4454°W

Notes and References

  1. http://www.aixenprovence.fr/Place-de-la-Rotonde City of Aix-en-Provence: Place de la Rotonde
  2. http://www.pays-aixenprovence.com/aixenprovence/fontaines_aix_en_provence.htm City of Aix-en-Provence: Fountains
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=Lb_erfz3aLwC&dq=%22Fontaine+de+la+Rotonde%22&pg=PA139 Aix en provence: Pays Aixois et Salonais, Petit Futé, 2010, p. 139
  4. Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Cheryl A. Pientka, France For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, 2007, p. 377 https://books.google.com/books?id=PBU3LMq_wh8C&dq=%22Fontaine+de+la+Rotonde%22&pg=PA377