Prague fountains
Prague tells you about its fountains...
In the next part of our talks about my beauty and my treasures I will tell you about my fountains, wells and springs. Fountains were once the main source of drinking water in Prague. They stood in every open space. Some were simple timber-framed reservoirs; others were decorated with sculptures of classical, biblical and natural motifs. The flowering of fountain constructions was brought in particular in the period of Renaissance und Baroque. Wealthy burghers and noblemen would compete in ostentatious fountain decoration and build splendid waterworks. For this reason, the most beautiful fountains were erected at this time, some of them you can admire in my streets up to now. The truth is that in the 19th century I could boast of 400 fountains, today we have much less of them. I am pleased that also current time period is mindful of water works, which inherently belong to my centre, new water works are being projected and the old ones are taken good care of. It is impossible to mention all my famous fountains and wells, therefore I will tell you about only some randomly selected ones.
In the area of the Prague Castle could be found 36 outdoor and indoor water works. One of them is the Kohl, also called the Lion Fountain in the second Courtyard of the Castle. Originating from 1686, it is one of the oldest in Prague. The sandstone fountain used to be a substantial part of Prague Castle's water system. It was one of the largest castle water reservoirs, used, among other purposes, to extinguish fires. Next to it you could see a nice well with an iron cage by an unknown artist.
The most popular is the beautiful empire fountain located in Mariánské square nearby Old town square by the wall of Clam-Gallas palace gardens. Its creator, classical sculptor Václav Prachner decorated it with the statue of young woman holding two vases with water. The statues right name is Vltava but all Prague citizen call her Terezka. Why? Who knows. One legend says that the statue was very similar to one servant maid. It is also said that one man fell in love with the statue and demised by will all property to the statue. However the court decided in favour of surviving relatives.
If we move to the Old Town, in the centre of the Malé Square we could admire the original, and still working, fountain protected by a hand-wrought Renaissance grille of 1560, made in the workshop of the court locksmith Jörg Schmidhammer. It seems to be my very oldest. The hand-made polychrome grille with ornaments and angel figures is a true masterpiece. As far as I remember, the poppy-head top received the Bohemian lion in the 17th century.
Seven ears ago I enriched my collection of water works with the new fountain The Trapdoor of Time by architect Jan Lauda. It was installed where once Medvědí fontána (Bear Fountain) and later the Soviet tank stood. A cracked rock – two granite slabs from a Liberec quarry - symbolizes the trapdoor of time that devours all deeds of man. Spouting water purges all and lets one forget. Come to the Kinských Square in order to enjoy the 8 meters high water slope.
Accept the invitation to my squares decorated with fountains and wells…
