One thing about aimless wandering through an unfamiliar city is that the history of the places you’ll wander past isn’t something you’re necessarily aware of.

Here’s an example – we found this fountain because we turned down a dark passageway and there it was.

I liked the modest maiden, so I made her photograph.

When I sat down to write this post, I looked up the location on a map and discovered it’s the Fontana Pretoria. Further research led me to this fascinating bit of knowledge: The fountain was originally built in 1544 in Florence, but was sold, transferred, and reassembled* in Palermo in 1574. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the fountain was considered to depict the corrupt municipality of Palermo. For this reason – and because of the nude statues, it became known as Piazza della Vergogna (or Square of Shame). In 1998 a five-year restoration project began.

So anyway, that maiden’s been modest now for nearly 480 years.

Fontana Pretoria
Palermo, Sicily
photographed 8.29.2022

*Mostly. Some parts of it went missing.