Wallace Fountain

In 1872 Richard Wallace, an English philanthropist, commissioned the sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg to design a fountain to give to the city of Paris, which was going through difficult times due to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The fountain symbolized peace between peoples.

The fountains, named after their generous sponsor, featured different models but the most well-known is a cast iron model 2.71 meters high and weighing 610 kilograms. Inspired by the Parisian Fountain of the Innocents, it has an octagonal base on which four caryatids rest, supporting a dome decorated with four dolphins. The four caryatids represent kindness, simplicity, charity, and sobriety. Water fell from the center of the dome into the space between the four caryatids. To facilitate water consumption, metal containers were placed next to the fountain attached by a chain, but years later, and for hygienic reasons, these metal containers were removed.

In Barcelona, and on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of 1888, 12 fountains arrived and were placed in different parts of the city. Of these original fountains, only two remain: one is on Rambla Santa Mònica and the other is on Gran Via (very close to Passeig de Gràcia).

On Rambla dels Caputxins, at the height of the Hotel Orient, there is a Wallace fountain which, like others distributed throughout the city, is a new creation based on the original molds. This one in particular was made when a traffic accident destroyed the original fountain.