FONTANA DELLA PIGNA

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In the middle of Piazza Cavour it is possible to admire the circular marble fountain called Fontana della Pigna (i.e. Fountain of the Pine-Cone) because of the pine-cone shaped element which in 1807 replaced St Paul’s image arranged in 1545 on the top of the fountain in honour of Pope Paul III, who, expressing his gratitude for the received hospitality, in 1541 presented the city of Rimini with five hundred gold scudi to restore the fountain. Between 1541 and 1543 the fountain was completely restored by Giovanni from Carrara. Notwithstanding the important restoration works, it is still possible to recognise the fountain’s medieval structure. The ancient fountain, which today presents fine small columns and an inscription on the inferior basin which attests that in 1502 it was appreciated by Leonardo, during the Middle Ages, was the only source of drinkable water in the city of Rimini. The conduit which connected the fountain with its source, sited in the present-day Via Dario Campana, has been from the Middle Ages until the early twentieth century the sole aqueduct in Rimini. The water overflowed from the fountain, run in a drain along the present-day Via Gambalunga, flowed around the north-eastern walls, and arrived down to the sea. In the sixteenth century near the fountain was built the so called "fontanone", a horses’ drinking trough which has been demolished in 1824 and replaced by a smaller watering through, which is at present in Via della Costa in Santarcangelo.