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Fontana Grande

Fontana Grande

Highlight • Monument

Fontana Grande

Name: Fontana Grande
Rating: 2

Recommended by 6 hikers

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Location: Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

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Best Hikes to Fontana Grande

5.0

(3)

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1. Viterbo Papal Palace – Piazza del Gesù loop from Viterbo Porta Romana

5.47km

01:28

60m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

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2. Fontana Grande – Monte Palanza Summit loop from Viterbo Porta Romana

21.8km

06:31

600m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Expert

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3. Porta Faul – Porta Murata loop from Viterbo

6.89km

01:53

110m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

Tips

Patrick

June 22, 2025

Built in 1212 by order of the Municipality, Fontana Grande is certainly the most famous of those included in the fabric of the city. Its construction was entrusted to the master builders Pietro and Bertoldo di Giovanni from Scalepignano, whose names are reported in the epigraph placed in the lower basin of the fountain. It took the place of what is mentioned in a document of the Liber Censum in 1192 as fontem Sepalis, which had been subjected to restoration work since 1206. This name appears to be linked to the presence of a series of small columns joined by horizontal iron bars that act as an enclosure (sepes = shelters). The name “grande” appears for the first time in a notarial protocol of 11 May 1483 drawn up by Tommaso d’Andrea, in which a house located in the district of “fontana grande” is mentioned, a name that will officially appear in a list of fountains starting from 1565. The Greek cross structure of the lower basin, as well as the central column on which two overlapping cups are set and surmounted by a pinnacle, are the result of a series of alterations that occurred over the centuries, starting with those carried out in 1279 at the behest of the podestà Orso Orsini, followed in 1424 by the restoration, partly financed by Pope Martin V, of the lower basin and the new construction of the central part of the column and the four lion heads. The pyramids, now inserted in the lower part of the structure, date back to 1827 and were carried out based on a design by the architect Domenico Lucchi at the same time as the restoration of the upper part of the central trunk. These changes did not, however, alter the clear Gothic component, used with the aim of giving impetus to the basic Romanesque structure.
(c) viterbo.artecitta.it/fontana-grande

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Details

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Elevation 340 m

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Monday 10 November

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Max wind speed: 4.0 km/h

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See hikes here

Take Me There

Location: Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

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Fontana Grande

1. Viterbo Papal Palace – Piazza del Gesù loop from Viterbo Porta Romana

2. Fontana Grande – Monte Palanza Summit loop from Viterbo Porta Romana

3. Porta Faul – Porta Murata loop from Viterbo

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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