Rimini - Fontana della Pigna

The area was inhabited by Etruscans until the arrival of the Celts, who held it from the 6th century BC until their defeat by the Umbri in 283
BC. In 268 BC the Roman Republic founded the colonia of Ariminum. The
end of Roman rule was marked by the destruction caused by invasions and
wars. When the Ostrogoths conquered Rimini in 493, Odoacer, besieged in
Ravenna, had to capitulate. During the Gothic War (535–554), Rimini was
taken and retaken many times. Under Byzantine rule, it was part of the
Exarchate of Ravenna.

In 728, it was taken with many other cities by Liutprand, King of the Lombards but returned to the Byzantines about 735. Pepin the Short gave it to the Holy See, but during the wars of the popes and the Italian cities against the emperors, Rimini sided with the latter.

Fontana a pigna (Pinecone fountain ) is located on the Piazza Cavour in the center of the old town. Seen in the backdrop is the Vecchia Pescheria (prev. upload). A fountain existed here already in Roman times. As in many other cities, this well was the only source of drinking water in the city, it fulfilled this function until 1912, the year of the inauguration of the public aqueduct.

The fountain seen today was completely renovated and rebuilt in 1543 by Giovanni da Carrara, after the damage caused in 1540 by the fireworks placed here to celebrate the Cardinal Legate Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte (the future pope Julius III).

The renovation, commissioned by Pope Paul III on the occasion of his visit to the city in 1541 is still memorized by the inscription.