Fontana pretoria

Fountain Sicily, Italy

Piazza Pretoria, commonly called "Piazza della Vergona" due to the nakedness of the statues that make up the beautiful fountain, entirely sculpted in white Carrara marble, by the sculptor Francesco Camilliani who created it in Florence in 1554 and was subsequently purchased by the city of Palermo .

The original work included 48 statues representing mythological figures and cherubs, had unusual dimensions given that it was intended for a private open space and was faced by a long pergola formed by 90 wooden columns. But in 1552 the fountain purchased by the Palermitan Senate was disassembled into 644 pieces and loaded onto ships to be transported to Sicily. To make room for the monumental construction, several houses in Piazza Pretoria were also demolished. You can admire the work by revolving around a central basin surrounded by four bridges of steps and an enclosure of balustrades; it consists of three concentric basins from which the water play begins which is poured from the top by a Bacchus, while all around there are statues representing various mythological figures, among which Venus, Adonis, Hercules, Apollo, Diana and Pomona can be recognized to which is added an allegorical representation of the rivers of Palermo, namely the Oreto, the Papireto, the Gabriele and the Maredolce.