Discover the Fontana Pretoria in Palermo, a Renaissance masterpiece rich in history, art, and legends nestled in the heart of the historic city center.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARCO CRUPI

The Fontana Pretoria, located in the heart of Palermo, is one of the city’s most captivating and controversial landmarks. Also known as the “Fountain of Shame”, it earned its nickname not only because of the nudity of its statues but also due to the exorbitant costs of its purchase and the ever-increasing expenses of continuous maintenance and adaptation, which were deemed excessive and scandalous by the locals. This extraordinary Renaissance work stands majestically in Piazza Pretoria (Pretoria Square), just steps away from the Palazzo delle Aquile, the seat of Palermo’s City Hall. The fountain is not just a monument of exceptional beauty; it also reflects the historical and social contradictions of the city.

The Fontana Pretoria was originally created in 1554 by Florentine sculptor Francesco Camilliani to adorn the garden of a private villa in Florence. However, in 1573, the Palermo Senate purchased the fountain for a sum between 20,000 and 30,000 scudi and had it transported to Palermo in 644 pieces. The monument arrived incomplete, with some statues damaged during the journey and others retained by the original owner. In Palermo, the fountain was reassembled in a manner different from its original design, adapting to its new urban setting.

The fountain is laid out on an elliptical plan with concentric basins arranged on three levels, accessible via a series of staircases. At the center of the complex, statues carved from Carrara marble depict pagan gods, allegorical figures, sea monsters, tritons, and mermaids. In total, the fountain boasts 37 statues, 24 animal heads, and 20 basins of varying sizes. Among the most recognizable figures are Bacchus, Hercules, Diana, Apollo, Venus, and Adonis, which alternate along the edges of the basins, surrounded by a marble balustrade.

Each statue of the Fontana Pretoria tells a story. The mythological figures and deities were included with specific symbolic intent, also connected to Palermo’s rivers. The four basins on the first level house sculptural groups representing the city’s main waterways: the Papireto, the Oreto, the Gabriele, and the Maredolce. These representations highlight the importance of water in daily life and in the Palermitan imagination, transforming the fountain into an allegory of the city’s connection with its natural resources.

The Fontana Pretoria is not without scandal. Known as the “Fountain of Shame” for several reasons, the most obvious is the nudity of the statues, a feature that outraged citizens from the moment of its installation. The monument fueled popular tales and legends, including the story of the nuns from the nearby convent, who were said to have tried to damage the statues at night due to their obscenity.

Beyond the moral aspect, another theory ties the nickname to a political meaning: positioned in front of the City Hall, the fountain was seen as a symbolic denunciation of the corruption of the ruling class of the time, a veiled but evident criticism of the city’s political mismanagement. Another interpretation is economic: the exorbitant sums paid for the purchase, the constant rise in costs, and the endless additional expenses were considered “shameful” by the Palermitans, who viewed the monument as a symbol of excessive public spending and poor management of the city’s money. Finally, a lesser-known legend tells that some of the fountain’s statues were damaged by the inhabitants of Messina, envious of Palermo’s prestige as the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, further cementing the idea of “shame” associated with the monument.

In 1858, the fountain was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence designed by architect Giovan Battista Filippo Basile to protect it from further vandalism. Over the years, numerous restoration efforts have sought to preserve the fountain from weather damage and wear, striving to maintain its original splendor.

A lesser-known aspect of the Fontana Pretoria is its hydraulic system. Beneath the structure lies a complex network of pipes that feed the fountain. This underground space can be explored through guided tours departing from the Palazzo delle Aquile. These tours offer an exclusive glimpse into the hidden engineering of the fountain, allowing visitors to discover the secrets of its construction.