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Bologna wheelchair users Neptune Square accessible tours

The Fountain of Neptune, "The Giant", is one of the most famous monuments of the city.

Bologna wheelchair users Neptune Square accessible tours square on which it sits was laid out in 1564, and a large number of small buildings were razed to make room for it.

The architect was Tommaso Laureti, a sculptor and painter from Palermo, who recruited the Flemish sculptor Jean Boulogne de Douai, known as Giambologna, for the making of the great statue.

Zanobio Portigiani, an expert caster, provided the bronze fusion.

The statue was made in the Fabbriceria of San Petronio, in a building on what is now Piazza Galvani, also known as Palazzo dell’Accademia or delle Scuole or even del Pavaglione.

Today Bologna wheelchair users Neptune Square accessible tours, on the west side of the square, there is a plaque that reads: "In these dwellings of the fabbriceria of San Petronio, in a large room on the ground floor, in 1506 Michelangelo cast the Statue of Giulio II, Giambologna in 1564 cast the Neptune, Meganti in 1580 cast the statue of Gregory XIII, here at the beginning of the XVI century the sculptor Alfonso Lombardi from Ferrara lived and had his workshop".

Touring Neptune Square

The fountain’s stone base is the work of Giovanni Andrea della Porta and Antonio Fasano, from Mantua, and Andrea Riva, from Milan.

Two types of Venetian limestone were used, red ammonite and a lighter version of bronzet to from Verona.

Just like the Basilica of San Petronio, the red and white colours were used to evoke the Free City of Bologna’s ones.

Grisante then had water channeled to the fountain from two sources south of the city and, for the masonry, bricks from the dismantling of the city walls merlons were used.

On each of the four sides of the great limestone basin there are carvings that read, "Fori Ornamento", "Populi Commodo", "Aere Publico" and “MDLXIIII” ( 1564 in Roman numerals), although the work was actually completed only in 1566.

It is worth noting that this fountain, like the Fontana Vecchia, which is now also considered a monument, was actually built for the practical purpose of supplying water to the area’s citizens.

With the help of several acquaioli, the water carriers who worked at the fountain, residents could even have water delivered to their homes for a small fee.

Bologna wheelchair users Neptune Square accessible tours monument has undergone many renovations over the centuries.

The Statue of Neptune was disassembled and cleaned during the last two world wars.

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