Three cities, three characteristic fountains

The most characteristic and common fountain on our streets belongs to the Barcelona Series, sold under various names relating to the city: it has become a true urban icon.

Photo: Albert Armengol

A Barcelona series fountain located where Carrer de Casp meets Passeig de Sant Joan. The model still appears in the catalogue of its manufacturer, Benito Urban de Manlleu, under the name ‘Barcino’.
Photo: Albert Armengol

The only European capital that beats Barcelona in total number of fountains is Rome, which has over 1,900, but it also has a larger population. Its fountain density is, then, 0.69 per 1,000 inhabitants. Paris, a city that has traditionally had and preserved many fountains, has around 820 of them, with a density of 0.36 per 1,000 inhabitants. Barcelona has one fountain for every 1,000 inhabitants.

Each of the three cities has its own model that makes the urban landscape unique. In Rome, the characteristic fountain is called Nasone, a cylindrical cast iron model that is 120 cm high and began to be mass produced in the 1920s, based on an initial model from 1872. The name comes from the shape of the spout, which recalls a nose. It provides a continuous stream of water without a tap: the water pours out directly to the sewer through a grate on the pavement. Worth pointing out is the hole on the upper part of the spout: if you cover the main hole in the spout where the water comes out, the water instead springs up out of this smaller hole, so you do not have to crouch down to drink. The coat of arms on Nasoni bear the initials of the ancient Roman government, SPQR, and that are still representative of the city.

The Wallace is the emblematic fountain of the streets of Paris, also made of cast iron, and designed and produced in 1872.

Photo: Wikimedia

An ancient Nasoni fountain, in Via Annia Faustina, Rome.
Photo: Wikimedia

Foto: Wikimedia

An excellent example of a Wallace fountain, in Rue Poliveau, Paris.
Foto: Wikimedia

As for Barcelona, the most characteristic and common fountain belongs to the Barcelona Series. We call it “series” because many companies have sold it and each manufacturer has given it a different name, but one that is always related to the city: Barcino, Condal, Barcelona are some of the names used by the foundries that still have it in their catalogue, with small variations and distinctive elements. It is also a cast iron model that is mounted on an iron or concrete base that supports the drain and the column with the tap. The production is serial, based on modules and separate pieces that are assembled in the workshop. The complete set weighs around 250 kg. Its main characteristic – perhaps what has enabled it to survive in a city that has totally modernised the public space and that was for years considered the capital of design – has been its robustness and ability to incorporate, without modifications, different taps with water-saving mechanisms. It is a very popular model that has become an urban icon; practically half the public fountains on our streets are from the Barcelona Series.

Jordi Díaz Callejo

Engineer. Master of Cultural Heritage

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