The Arab fountain of Alcamo is very ancient (together with ''Cuba delle Rose'', the ''Arab Cuba'' of Vicari and the ''Piccola Cuba'' of Palermo), and is still functional: it was built during the period of the Arab domination of the town. It is located in the lower part of Alcamo, at about 300 metres from the

Sanctuary of Madonna of Miracles The Sanctuary of Madonna dei Miracoli ("Holy Mary of Miracles") is a church in Alcamo, province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy; it is dedicated to the Madonna of the Miracles (the patron saint of Alcamo). History The sanctuary was b ...

History

In 1154, in a passage of the Book of Roger, written by the Arab geographer Idrisi, the town of Alcamo was defined a ''manzil'' (that is a ''casale'' or group of houses) with fertile lands and a prosperous market. In this period, this hamlet (=casale) was called ''"Alqamah"''. The town centre was inhabited by Muslims and subdivided into four ''casalia'': San Vito, San Leonardo, Sant'Ippolito and San Nicolò del Vauso (which later became feudal hamlets). These casalia became then Christians, after the Arabs were expelled by

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (German language, German: ''Friedrich''; Italian language, Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Em ...

because of their rebellions.Orlandi, Cesare(1770). Delle città d'Italia e sue isole adjacenti compendiose notizie The ''Fountain of San Vito'' was built by the Arabs near a water spring, in the hamlet of ''Alqamah''; but at the end of the 15th century there was a big earthquake, that probably damaged the fountain, which afterwards was restored. Later the residential area concentrated around the

Castle of the Counts of Modica A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

; near the fountain they started the activity of pastoralism which led to the construction of an abreuvoir.

Description

In the façade there are two sinks, with two spouts (cannoli) and lesenes surmounted by

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

. The abreuvoir, realized with carved limestone

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

s, was built in the first half of the 19th century. The restoration works, completed in 2015, have given a greater valorisation of the characteristic road that, leaving from

Piazza Ciullo Piazza Ciullo is the main square of Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, Italy. Being located in the very town centre, it is a meeting place for people and an attraction for important events, especially for teenagers. History According ...

, leads as far as the

, where in May believers go there on pilgrimage to pray their patroness.

Restoration

Thanks to the fundings received through G.A.L. (gruppo di azione locale), aimed to the requalification of the cultural sites in the rural landscape of the territory of Alcamo (among which there are also the ''Cuba delle Rose'' and the holy aedicules), they could restore and valorize the site of the ancient Arab fountain; the planning was predisposed by the engineers of the municipality of Alcamo.

References

Sources

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Other projects

External links

* * * * * {{coord, 37.98323, 12.96612, format=dms, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Fountains in Italy Buildings and structures in Alcamo Emirate of Sicily