Public drinking fountain, commissioned in 1575 by Queen Catherine of Austria, in the central square of Óbidos, Portugal
Image details
Contributor:
Terence Kerr / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2HJR3J6File size:
103.4 MB (6 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4912 x 7360 px | 41.6 x 62.3 cm | 16.4 x 24.5 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
14 June 2013Location:
Óbidos, Centro, PortugalMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Óbidos, Centro, Portugal: Monumental drinking fountain, commissioned in 1575 by Queen Catherine of Austria, wife of Portugal’s King Joao III, in the Praça de Santa Maria, the main square of Óbidos. The fountain features two gargoyle-shaped spouts, a triangular basin and the Queen’s coat of arms. An aqueduct commissioned by Queen Catherine in 1573 carried drinking water to the people of Óbidos, including to this fountain. Behind the fountain rises the slim column of the 15th century Pillory, a monument to the town’s autonomy and the place where criminals were punished. Although the name Óbidos derives from the Latin “oppidum”, meaning “walled city”, the town dates back to Portugal’s Celtic period and was only later taken over by the Romans in the 1st century AD. The Romans created the city of Eburobrittium and were followed by the Visigoths and other Germanic tribes in the 5th century. The Moors took over in the 8th century and, finally, Portugal’s first king, Alphonso Henriques, conquered the town in 1149. Óbidos is known as the “wedding present town” because it was a gift King Dinis gave to Queen Isabel on their wedding day in 1282. Óbidos then became the property of Portuguese queens until the 1800s. D0964.B1591