Old woman tending plants in a picturesque Italian alley

Website created to tell the story of the Municipality of San Valentino

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C.I. SAN VALENTINO IN ABRUZZO CITERIORE

Largo San Nicola
+39 085 922343
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Historical Itineraries

Fountain of Venus Julia

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MAJELLA NATIONAL PARK

Via Badia 28, Sulmona
+39 0864 25701
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Welcome to the Venus Giulia Fountain

Venus Giulia Fountain with historical buildings in background

At Largo San Nicola, at the entrance to the town, on a small belvedere, there is the historic fountain known as the Venus Giulia. It was built at the end of the nineteenth century and purchased by the municipality in 1886. Made entirely of cast iron, most likely by the Scottish foundry Mac Naughton of Glasgow, like the other one of Sansone in the upper part of the town. The French origin, which would attribute it to the foundries of Val d’Osne, is likely disproved. A large circular stone basin for collecting water serves as a support for this monumental, cascading fountain. It is adorned with a group of elegant sculptures: among them, the female statue that most likely represents a nymph placed at the top, improperly called Venus, in reference to Giulia Farnese (La Bella), a figure belonging to the well-known Roman family who, through Margherita d’Austria, acquired the fief of San Valentino in 1583.
Stylistically interesting are also the three statues of kneeling cherubs found below the small basin on which Venus rests, while at the base there are lion masks from whose mouths water flows continuously. The similarities with the models documented at Pescocostanzo and Fresagrandinaria are evident.

Italian village with snow-covered mountains in the background

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