Fountain de La Mariblanca (Puerta del Sol) in 1841

The Fountain de La Mariblanca was a fountain located in

Puerta del Sol The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...

, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Now demolished. Not to be confused with other fountains located in Madrid and Spain with the same name. This fountain replaced an older Puerta del Sol fountain, the

Fountain of the Harpies A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

History and decor

In 1727

Pedro de Ribera Pedro de Ribera (Madrid 4 August 1681 - Madrid, 1742) was a Spanish architect of the Baroque period. Biography Ribera worked almost exclusively in Madrid during the first half of the 18th century. He was a disciple of José Benito de Churriguera ...

was commissioned to replace the

, located in the

, which had been projected a century earlier by Italian sculptor Rutilio Gaci. While the Madrilenian architect took some elements of the early fountain, completely redid the work of his predecessor, due to its deterioration. He opted for a slimmer and lower composition, on the line which, years later, would propose to the

Fuente de la Fama Fuente, Spanish for "fountain" or "spring", may refer to: People * Claire dela Fuente (1958–2021), Filipino singer * José Manuel Fuente (1945–1996), Spanish road racing cyclist * Justin Fuente (born 1976), college football coach in U.S. * ...

, though much more restrained than this. Regarding the decor, is quite true that eliminated much of the ornaments designed by Gaci like the

harpies In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; lat, harpȳia) is a half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions They were generally depicted as birds with the head ...

, which were replaced by

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

s, but it is also true that kept many others, such as the masks with dispenser or the sculpture topping the set. This was none other than the

Mariblanca The statues known as Mariblanca are female figures of uncertain origin which may relate to the fertility goddesses Venus (mythology), Venus or Fortuna. The name, which is common in Spanish language, Spanish relates to a statue which was pur ...

, the famous white marble statue, possibly a representation of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, which was imported from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1619 and now is in the Casa de la Villa, after suffering all kinds of avatars and numerous moved."Fuente de la Mariblanca", pasionpormadrid.blogspot.com
/ref> The fountain designed by Ribera was demolished in 1838, decades before of proceed with the great reform of the Puerta del Sol, which led to its current path. The Mariblanca statue is the only remnant that has survived.

References

{{coord missing, Spain Fountains in Madrid Demolished buildings and structures in Madrid Buildings and structures completed in 1727 Buildings and structures demolished in 1838