The ''Fontanilla'' is the former public fountain of

Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the city ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where, according to tradition, these fountains provided the water for the ships of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

's first voyage—the '' Santa María'', the ''

Niña ''La Niña'' (Spanish for ''The Girl'') was one of the three Spanish ships used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in his first voyage to the West Indies in 1492. As was tradition for Spanish ships of the day, she bore a female saint's name ...

'', and the '' Pinta''—when, on 3 August 1492, they departed from

, captained by Columbus and by Palos's own

Pinzón Brothers The Pinzón brothers were Spanish sailors, pirates, explorers and fishermen, natives of Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain. Martín Alonso, Francisco Martín and Vicente Yáñez, participated in Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the ...

upon the

voyage Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to: Literature *''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden * ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter *''The Voyage'', Murray Bail * "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by ...

widely considered to have led the "

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

" of what historians term the "

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

". La Fontanilla is the least dramatic, but perhaps the most original and authentic monument among the so-called ''

Lugares colombinos The ''Lugares colombinos'' ("Columbian places") is a tourist route in the Spanish province Huelva, which includes several places that have special relevance to the preparation and realization of the first voyage of Cristopher Columbus. That voy ...

'', the places in Huelva closely associated with Columbus's first voyage.

Origin and architectural style

There were two places where water was drawn in Palos: the fountain of Villafrías, at the exit of the estuary, facing the Isla de Saltés, and the Fontanilla, outside of the historic center of the city, but immediately to its east. An estuary of the

Río Tinto The Río Tinto (, ''red river'' or Tinto River) is a river in southwestern Spain that rises in the Sierra Morena mountains of Andalusia. It flows generally south-southwest, reaching the Gulf of Cádiz at Huelva. The Rio Tinto river has a unique ...

came practically to its base, with a pier that provided the most direct access to the town from the sea. This was almost certainly the pier from which Columbus's ships departed. HermanosPinzon

On the way from the ''Puerta de los Novios'' of the Church of Saint George the Martyr (''Iglesia de San Jorge Mártir''), walking toward the nearby site of the former pier, one finds the Fontanilla, the former public fountain constructed on a base that dates back to

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times, and protected by a ''tetrapylum'', a sort of

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...

, constructed of stone in the 13th century in the

Mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...

style, with a quadrangular base, with the protective roof having a hemispheric

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

exterior and a

pyramidal A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilater ...

interior. The support consists of four slightly depressed

semicircular arch In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line o ...

es, supported on angular

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

reinforced by

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s. When the fountain was actually in use, the fountain proper was in the center, and the sides were open gutters where the water ran, gathering on the eastern side in a long

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

. The most recent studies have shown that it was

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed and painted in

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

with religious motifs, a circumstance that, together with it being at the entrance to the city, suggests that in addition to being the public fountain and a place of rest and cooling off for those who arrived at the town, whether from the dock or by road, it also may have been a ''cruz de término'' or ''humilladero'' (a type of roadside

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

at the entrance to a town) or a place of penitence, a place of prayer and reflection intended to give repose both to the body and the soul. In this sense, it could be compared to other ''humilladeros'' in Andalusia, for example the Cruz del Campo in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, so related to the origin of the celebrations of

Holy Week in Seville Holy Week in Seville (In Spanish: ''Semana Santa de Sevilla'') is one of two biggest annual festivals in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, the other being the ''Feria de Abril'' (April Fair), which follows two weeks later. It is celebrated in the week l ...

. Currently, the Fontanilla is restored with a brick finish. The

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

at the exit is the only wooden element, and one can view the Fontanilla either from the road into Palos from

Moguer Moguer is a municipality and small city located in the province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 22,623. Its surface area is , and its population density is . The present site of Moguer had been ho ...

, or from a viewpoint on the heights of the hill of the settled part of town, looking toward its surrounding gardens.

Notes

References

* * {{coord, 37.23139, -6.89092, type:landmark_region:ES, display=title Christopher Columbus Buildings and structures in the Province of Huelva Tourism in Spain Fountains in Spain Buildings and structures in Andalusia