Built in 1565 by Tommaso Laureti and commisioned by Pier Donato Cesi. Fontana Vecchia – the old fountain – served a more useful purpose than the Fontana Nettuno. Water from here was used by the internal kitchens and gardens, and it’s believed the horses of the calvary stationed inside the walls.

Fontana Vecchia Photos

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About Fontana Vecchia

Known as Fontana Vecchia – the old fountain – this was built in 1565 by the same architect Tommaso Laureti who shortly before completed the more famous Fontana Nettuno.

Laureti designed this one so it would be fed by Fontana Nettuno. It would also be less ostentatious as Pier Donato Cesi requested, and would therefore serve a more useful purpose to the people.

The inscription in the middle of the monument is dedicated to Cesi who was initially called to Bologna in 1560and served under Cardinal Carlo Borromeo.

In turn, Fontana Vecchia would serve another internal one within the walls of the Palazzo Comunale but evidence shows that further work in the 1880s took place inside the walls to make more use of the water system. Although Laureti never made it quite clear as the original purpose for each fountain it’s believed that an external one was for the horses cavalry while other supplies served the kitchens and internal gardens.

References

Paola Foschi e Marco Poli, La Sala Borsa di Bologna, Bologna 2003, p32.