Fontana della Pigna is on Piazza Cavour in Rimini's historic centre, beside the Paolo V statue. Its present structure dates from 1543 but incorporates older elements and later alterations. It is an outdoor monument that can be seen free of charge during a walk through the square.
A fountain from different periods
Giovanni da Carrara created the 16th-century fountain respecting its earlier layout. The drum with bas-reliefs is Roman. The pine cone giving the monument its name arrived only in 1809, replacing a small San Paolo statue now preserved at Museo della Città.
The fountain also served a daily purpose: before the public aqueduct inaugurated in 1912, it was the city's main source of drinking water.
The memory of Leonardo
Leonardo da Vinci passed through Rimini in 1502 while working for Cesare Borgia and noted the effect of the fountain's water jets. His words are engraved on the monument: “A harmony is made by the different falls of water, as seen at the fountain in Rimini”. The account therefore predates the 1543 reconstruction.
The square is also overlooked by Palazzo dell'Arengo, Palazzo del Podestà, Teatro Galli, inaugurated in 1857 by Giuseppe Verdi, and Vecchia Pescheria. Corso d'Augusto leads to Piazza Tre Martiri and Ponte di Tiberio, continuing the route through different periods of the centre.
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