Fountain of the 99 Spouts

The Fountain of the 99 Spouts (also known as the Rivera Fountain) is certainly one of the most iconic monuments of the city of L’Aquila. It was precisely here that the first settlements appeared during the founding of the city in the 13th century. Located in Borgo Rivera, one of the oldest areas of the historic center near the Aterno River and close to the Church of San Vito alla Rivera, it is a place around which many legends about the city’s origins revolve. The fountain consists of ninety-three stone masks and six individual spouts, most of which flow with water. According to tradition, the spouts represent the ninety-nine castles in the surrounding area that, in the 13th century, contributed to the founding of L’Aquila. Among the most well-known legends are those of Pope Celestine IV and the Templars, or the legend of the architect Tancredi da Pentima, who built this important monument and was later killed to protect the secrets regarding the origins of the water that supplied the fountain.