The Fountain of Calvo ( pt, Fonte do Calvo) is a public/communal fountain and

lavoir A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by laund ...

in the civil parish of

Almalaguês Almalaguês (in old orthography, Almalaguez) is a civil parish in the municipality of Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . ...

, municipality of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

that has existed for over 100 years, and integral to the history and culture of the community. The inhabitants of Almalaguês have systematically restored the fountain and lavoir historically, owing to its reputation for water quality. It has been the centre of the community since the regions formation, its waters used for domestic consumption (drinking and cooking), bathing and as a source of waters for communal clothes washing. Owing to the lack of piped water, this fountain provided all consumable water for the community. Transporting of water was usually completed using clay jars, used by many of the residents, and only replaced in the 20th century by the typical

plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from v ...

s. The fountain was also the destination of pilgrimages, including a legendary trip on Sunday

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

, where young people took the opportunity to

date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner **Group dating *Play date, an ...

. Its centre of community life also allow the congregation of many of residents at the fountain, resulting in many relationships, leading to several marriages.

References

Notes Calvo Buildings and structures in Coimbra Tourist attractions in Coimbra {{Public-art-stub