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The public fountain was built by the will of Pope Clement XIII at the end of the seventeenth century, with the desire to provide Piazzale Umberto I with a source that could satisfy all the social aspects of a “new” square.
Info: Info point Vitorchiano – Pro loco Vitorchiano. Piazza Roma, s.n.c. Tel. 0761373739prolocovitorchiano@gmail.com – infopointvitorchiano@gmail.com
Facebook Page Pro loco Vitorchiano 
Municipality of Vitorchiano, Tourist Office – Piazza Sant’Agnese, 16 – cap. 01030 – tel. 0761373745. Sito Internet del Comune di Vitorchiano, e-mail info@comune.vitorchiano.vt.it.
PUBLIC FOUNTAIN
HISTORICAL NOTES AND DESCRIPTION
Although clearly remodeled in recent times in the circular steps, the public fountain stands as a clear piece that helps us understand the phases of urban development of the city. Piazzale Umberto I, by the will of Pope Clement XIII, was one of the obligatory passageways into or out of Vitorchiano, and was equipped at the end of the 17th century with a source that could satisfy all the social aspects of a “new” square. Originally located near the center of the square, in the 1930s it was moved to the right of Porta Romana. The various and troubled events of the public fountain have continued even in recent times. In February 2007, from the right of “Porta Romana”, the fountain was moved with the municipal consent to its current location, in the center of the square, where until eight months earlier the Moai sculpture had been on display, not without local disagreements and controversies. The public fountain, built between the seventeenth-eighteenth century. in peperino carved on a quadrangular curvilinear base with concave mirrors, it is characterized by a four-lobed basin, in the center of which stands a stem that supports a circular cup adorned with small lion heads, from whose mouths water gushes. At the center of the circular cup there is a small floral decoration that ends the fountain at the top. The fountain was raised on a circular staircase. In the background, looking at the village, you can see the medieval walls with the Porta Romana and the bell tower of the Trinity church also known as Sant’Amanzio. In the opposite direction, the square is closed in the background by the former church of San Giovanni Battista from the 16th century, now used as a meeting place for various cultural and sporting events, and by Palazzo Colosi on the left. Particular is the presence engraved on the last step of the circular staircase of the fountain with the epigraph that reads: “UNDER THE PONTIFICATE OF CLEMENT XIII THE NEW AQUEDUCT WAS BUILT”. On the same step there is also the engraved façade of the fountain itself.
ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Pietroni, scheda OA in Varie Vitorchiano, 1995.
PatrimonioSOS In difesa dei beni culturali e ambientali
Special thanks to Dr. Andrea Presutti for scientific advice and archival photographic material provided on Vitorchiano.
– Vitorchiano com’era Facebook page for collecting old photos of the beautiful village of Vitorchiano, in the province of Viterbo. Images of the country, its inhabitants and its traditions.
