Porta Ognissanti

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Porta Ognissanti (Porta Portello)
Via del Portello
Padua, May 2025

“The Porta Ognissanti (Omnium Sanctorum in Latin, also called Portello Nuovo or Venezia, commonly Porta Portello) is one of the gates still existing within the sixteenth-century walls of Padua, built by the Serenissima Republic. It rises in the area of the city called Portello (that is ‘small port’, because this area hosted a sort of arrival - restored - for the boats that connected along the Riviera del Brenta Padua with Venice, but the recent hypothesis in deriving it from the fact that, previously to the current gate, there was a ‘Portello’ (a simple pedestrian gate or almost). The gate dates back to 1519, the year in which it took the place of the Portello Vecchio gate, located in today's Via San Massimo.” (Porta Ognissanti, Wikipedia)

Dionysos-Brunnen

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Dionysos-Brunnen (Dionysus Fountain) by Karl Burgeff, 1973
Am Domhof
Cologne, September 2024

“Somewhat hidden, in front of the tunnel entrance Am Domhof under the east side of the Domplatte, the bronze sculpture of the Greek god Dionysus graces the concrete-heavy surroundings. Created by Karl Burgeff in 1973, the curvaceously shaped god of festivities and wine is in a contorted position that is half sitting, half reclining, and directs his gaze up to the sky, lost in thought. The god depicted here as a sculpture is a modern counterpart to the mosaic in the Roman-Germanic Museum. There, Dionysus is the central motif of the mosaic of the same name around which the museum building was erected. Even if there is no direct connection, it is somewhere fitting that homage is paid to the ancient deity in Cologne, since to a certain extent the bacchanalia of ancient Rome continued in today's carnival.” (Dionysus Fountain, Cologne Tourist Board)

Church of San Francesco

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Church of San Francesco by Vincenzo Micheli, 1932
Piazza Savonarola
Florence, December 2024

“The church of San Francesco is a Catholic place of worship located in Piazza Savonarola in Florence. The archive of the convents of the Minor Observant Fathers of the Tuscan Province is kept in the annexed convent. It was built in neo-Gothic style in 1887 by the architect Vincenzo Micheli for the Carmelite nuns of Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, who had left their convent in Borgo Pinti. The latter then moved to via dei Massoni and were replaced in 1928 by the Franciscans, who decided to expand the church, according to the project of the architect and brother Fra' Raffaello Franci. On 15 April 1930 the church in Piazza Savonarola became a canonical parish with an Archbishop's decree and was consecrated in 1932. The building underwent a final renovation in 1971, when it was expanded with the opening of new spaces and repaved.” (Chiesa di San Francesco, Firenze)

Merkur-Brunnen

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Merkur-Brunnen (Mercury Fountain) by Hugo Lederer, 1916
Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage
Frankfurt, September 2024

“The Mercury Fountain was donated in 1909 by banker Anton L.A. Hahn, but not completed until 1916 by his sons Louis Alfred and Ludwig Arnold Hahn in memory of their father. Initially erected on Komödienplatz (later Rathenauplatz), it was relocated around 1954 to the grounds in front of the main entrance to the exhibition center. Its decor is perfectly suited to this location, as the Roman god Mercury was believed to protect trade and commerce. A bronze figure of Mercury stands on a stone fountain post with a stepped double ring decorated with rams' heads. The figure is life-size, nude, and wears the typical winged hat; its upper body slightly turned away, it weighs a bag of gold pieces in its hands. The basin of this neoclassical ornamental fountain is a monolithic granite bowl. The water runs over its scaled ring and cascades through a concealed gap into the depths. The basin stands on four spheres above a surface of two octagonal steps.” (Merkur-Brunnen, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Frankfurt)

Ponte Pietra

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Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge)
Via Ponte Pietra
Verona, May 2025

“The Ponte Pietra (Italian for ‘Stone Bridge’) is a Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River in Verona, Italy. The bridge was completed in 100 BC, and the Via Postumia from Genoa to Aquileia passed over it. It is the oldest bridge in Verona. It originally flanked another Roman bridge, the Pons Postumius (called Pons Marmoreus and at Middle Ages was called Fractus - broken, now remain some fragments); both structures provided the city (on the right bank) with access to the Roman theatre on the east bank. The arch nearest to the right bank of the Adige was rebuilt in 1298 by Alberto I della Scala. Four arches of the bridge were blown up by retreating German troops in World War II, but rebuilt in 1957 with original materials.” (Ponte Pietra, Wikipedia)

Peterskirche

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Alte Peterskirche (Old St. Peter's Church)
Schletterstraße
Leipzig, September 2024

“Old St. Peter's Church (German: Alte Peterskirche) is a Lutheran parish and church in the old town of Leipzig, Germany. The present church building, in Gothic Revival style, was erected from 1882 onwards at the Gaudigplatz, and also serves as a concert venue. It replaced a former building at a different location. The former building was built in 1507. After the Reformation, it was used as a Lutheran church until 1539, and again from 1712 to 1885. It was demolished in 1886. With 87 metres (285 ft) it is Leipzig's tallest church.” (St. Peter, Wikipedia)

Fontana dei bambini

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“L'altalena” (The Swing) by Nereo Cagliato, 1984
aka “Fontana dei bambini” (Children's fountain)
Stradella dei Tre Scalini
Vicenza, May 2025

“The Children's Fountain, next to the Post Office, is certainly nice, but nothing more. It was built in 1984 based on a design by the architect Vittorio Veller thanks to funding from some citizens and donated to the Municipality in exchange for authorization to open windows on the front of the building behind. Restored and reactivated in July 2020, it is already dry. Quagliato's bronze sculpture softens the fountain, but the low system of communicating basins that underlies it lacks any monumentality. A vertical structure with a wall-mounted water jet would have been much more suitable in the same place. It would at least distract the gaze from the looming red and white mass of the Royal Post and Telegraph building” (Quattro fontane in tutto, ViPiù)