Since 1421, Ozieri was part of the fief known as the “States of Oliva” belonging to the Valencian nobles Centelles, who administered it with governors of their own choosing. In 1594 the governor of the States de Oliva, the Sardinian nobleman (but of Iberian origin) Don Giovanni di Castelvì, had a fountain built where there was an ancient spring, the main one in the town. The governor had an 8-mouth spring built, the flow of which was and is regulated by a system of nozzles and valves in the cistern behind the front. From the little tower, existing in the back garden, it is possible, by means of a ladder, to descend a couple of meters below street level and visit the twenty-meter-long tunnel, which goes up to the spring that springs from the limestone rocks: the underground water reaches a cistern located behind the marble facade of the spring, where the flow to the 8 mouths is regulated. The present fountain (known as the “Grixoni Fountain”), begun in 1877 and completed in 1882 to a design by architect Giovanni Pietrasanta, was built thanks to the munificence of Ozierese nobleman Don Giuseppe Grixoni. The monumental fountain has become a symbol of Ozieri. The architectural line is a harmonious composition of granite and marble. On either side of the pavement are two lions, ideally placed to defend the fountain.
Menu
