Venetian Fountain

In the middle of the gardens that now fill the centre of the square stands the Fuente Veneciana, the Venetian Fountain, though it wasn’t always here; it once graced the courtyard of the palace of Francisco de los Cobos, personal secretary to Emperor Charles V and one of the most powerful figures of the sixteenth century. A gift from the Senate of the Republic of Venice, it reflected the exceptional prestige Cobos enjoyed in European diplomatic circles and the strength of the ties between imperial Spain and the Serenissima. The palace that housed it has since disappeared, gradually abandoned and eventually dismantled in the early twentieth century, with many of its architectural and decorative elements scattered or lost, but the fountain was saved at the last moment and brought here to the heart of the great Renaissance square. Made by Italian craftsmen in the mid-sixteenth century, it features an upper basin with a central jet of water, once embellished with fish, frogs and water snakes evoking the aquatic world so beloved by Venetian artists; the octagonal pillar beneath it is decorated with fantastical creatures, dolphins and antique-inspired medallions, a visual language typical of the Italian Renaissance. Its octagonal form, often associated with renewal and new life, added symbolic weight when it stood in the palace courtyard, and though time has left its mark, the fountain remains a historic piece rich in meaning.