The Fontaine du Roi René is a listed fountain in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.

Location

It is located at the top of the

Cours Mirabeau The Cours Mirabeau is an avenue and of the major arteries of Aix-en-Provence, France. Overview 440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in the town. It is lined with many cafés, one ...

in the centre of Aix-en-Provence.City of Aix-en-Provence: Fountains
/ref>City of Aix-en-Provence: Fontaine du Roi René
/ref>''Aix en provence: Pays Aixois et Salonais'', Petit Futé, 2010, p. 140
/ref>

History

The fountain was designed by French architect Pierre-Henri Révoil (1776-1842) in 1819. On top of the fountain, the statue was designed by French sculptor

David d'Angers Pierre-Jean David (12 March 1788 – 4 January 1856) was a French sculptor, medalist and active freemason.Initiated in ""Le Père de famille"" Lodge in Angers He adopted the name David d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painter ...

(1788–1856) in 1822, in honor of

René of Anjou René of Anjou (; ; 16 January 1409 – 10 July 1480) was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1434 to 1480, who also reigned as King of Naples from 1435 to 1442 (then Aragonese conquest of Naples, deposed). Having spent his last years in Aix ...

. It shows him holding

muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

grapes, which he brought to

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

.Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Cheryl A. Pientka, ''France For Dummies'', John Wiley & Sons, 2007, p. 37

/ref> It was restored in 2009, to mark the 600th birthday of Roi René.

Heritage significance

It is listed as a "

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

References

Buildings and structures in Aix-en-Provence Buildings and structures completed in 1822 Monuments historiques of Aix-en-Provence Fountains in France 1822 establishments in France 19th-century architecture in France {{France-struct-stub