Description
The Fountain of Neptune, also called the Medina fountain, is a monumental fountain in Piazza Municipio, in front of Palazzo San Giacomo, in Naples. It is an early-seventeenth-century fountain that has traveled more than any other in the city: since 1601 it has changed address at least seven times.
In the center, on a rock, two nymphs and two satyrs hold a basin on their heads, and above the basin towers Neptune with his trident, the work of Michelangelo Naccherino. Water spurts from the god.
Lower down, two sea monsters pour water into the large central basin, adorned with dolphins riding tritons, who in turn spray water. They are by Pietro Bernini, father of the more famous Gian Lorenzo.
The fountain is circular and is surrounded by a balustrade with four flights of steps, facing one another, decorated with elegant openwork tendrils. On top are the four lions from which the water gushes, each with the shield of the city and of the Duke of Medina and Carafa between its paws: they were added by Cosimo Fanzago.
It was wanted by the viceroy Enrique de Guzmán, Count of Olivares, but it was built between 1600 and 1601, under the viceroy Count of Lemos, under the direction of Domenico Fontana. It was once thought to be the work of Giovanni Domenico D'Auria, who however was already dead when Olivares governed.
It was born at the Arsenale of the port, where however the water did not reach, and in 1628 the viceroy Duke of Alba had it brought in front of the Palazzo Reale. Here it got in the way of the festivities in the square, and in 1634 it was moved to Santa Lucia, on the Alcalà bastion, where Fanzago enriched it together with his sons Carlo and Ascenzio.
In 1639 the viceroy Duke of Medina de las Torres wanted it on his new street, near the church of San Diego all'Ospedaletto: since then the street and the fountain have borne his name.
Its life was eventful. It was mutilated at the time of Masaniello's revolt and plundered by another viceroy in 1672. In 1886, for the Risanamento works, it ended up dismantled in the caves under Pizzofalcone. In 1898 it reappeared in Piazza della Borsa, now Piazza Bovio, where it stayed until 2000.
Removed for the metro building site, in 2001, to the great surprise of the Neapolitans, it reappeared in Via Medina, not far from its first position. In 2014 it was restored and dismantled again, to be rebuilt in Piazza Municipio in the first months of 2015, in the project of the architects Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura.
Don't miss
• Neptune with his trident.
• The sea monsters by Pietro Bernini.
• The four lions by Fanzago.
Did you know?
• The fountain was inaugurated again on May 23, 2015, the same day as the Municipio metro station.
• In 1629 a topographer drew it in his view of Naples, because of the importance of its move in front of the Palazzo Reale.
In the center, on a rock, two nymphs and two satyrs hold a basin on their heads, and above the basin towers Neptune with his trident, the work of Michelangelo Naccherino. Water spurts from the god.
Lower down, two sea monsters pour water into the large central basin, adorned with dolphins riding tritons, who in turn spray water. They are by Pietro Bernini, father of the more famous Gian Lorenzo.
The fountain is circular and is surrounded by a balustrade with four flights of steps, facing one another, decorated with elegant openwork tendrils. On top are the four lions from which the water gushes, each with the shield of the city and of the Duke of Medina and Carafa between its paws: they were added by Cosimo Fanzago.
It was wanted by the viceroy Enrique de Guzmán, Count of Olivares, but it was built between 1600 and 1601, under the viceroy Count of Lemos, under the direction of Domenico Fontana. It was once thought to be the work of Giovanni Domenico D'Auria, who however was already dead when Olivares governed.
It was born at the Arsenale of the port, where however the water did not reach, and in 1628 the viceroy Duke of Alba had it brought in front of the Palazzo Reale. Here it got in the way of the festivities in the square, and in 1634 it was moved to Santa Lucia, on the Alcalà bastion, where Fanzago enriched it together with his sons Carlo and Ascenzio.
In 1639 the viceroy Duke of Medina de las Torres wanted it on his new street, near the church of San Diego all'Ospedaletto: since then the street and the fountain have borne his name.
Its life was eventful. It was mutilated at the time of Masaniello's revolt and plundered by another viceroy in 1672. In 1886, for the Risanamento works, it ended up dismantled in the caves under Pizzofalcone. In 1898 it reappeared in Piazza della Borsa, now Piazza Bovio, where it stayed until 2000.
Removed for the metro building site, in 2001, to the great surprise of the Neapolitans, it reappeared in Via Medina, not far from its first position. In 2014 it was restored and dismantled again, to be rebuilt in Piazza Municipio in the first months of 2015, in the project of the architects Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura.
Don't miss
• Neptune with his trident.
• The sea monsters by Pietro Bernini.
• The four lions by Fanzago.
Did you know?
• The fountain was inaugurated again on May 23, 2015, the same day as the Municipio metro station.
• In 1629 a topographer drew it in his view of Naples, because of the importance of its move in front of the Palazzo Reale.