The fountain of Piazza San Siro

The tub is one of the most precious and least known objects of Sanremo, even if it does not belong to the ancient history of the city.

It was bought following an initiative of an English colonel, Momber, an officer of His British Majesty and resident in Sanremo, and of whom he had made a gift to the City in the early 1900s.

The following was written about him: «...Colonel Momber, a retired British officer, who distinguished himself for his activities in favour of animals, as remembered by the stele placed by his friends in memory of the Byzantine fountain he used as a drinking trough for horses, which is still located in Piazza San Siro...» (Taken from "Il Viaggio in Riviera" Daniela Gandolfi). He was also the founder of the Society for the Protection of Animals.

In reality, apart from the lions supporting the commemorative plaque, a recent creation, the basin of the fountain in question, which was in fact used as a drinking trough for horses, is an exceptional object: note the quality of the decorative relief in continuous webbing, which encloses an uninterrupted series of clipei in which many kinds of animals, each one different from the other, are housed.
It is a work rich in references to the Byzantine and Adriatic spheres, even though it is made of white Carrara marble. Few similar sculptural examples can be found in St Mark's in Venice or at Pomposa Abbey, also on the Adriatic coast.
It is therefore from that region, perhaps from the area of Aquileia, that this very precious object comes. It can be dated to the 12th century and its original function is still in doubt, as it could have been a sarcophagus or a baptismal font.

It was originally placed at the Foce, at the intersection of Via Legnano and Corso Matuzia, in the small garden where the newspaper kiosk is now located and right in front of the old Rimessa dei tram, but it was later moved and completely ignored.

On Carlo Alberto's initiative, with a contribution from the Tourist Board, it was saved from abandonment and first placed in Via Corradi (in 1974).

Later on, thanks to the interest and initiative of the FAI, it was placed in Piazza San Siro in front of the Oratory of the Immacolata, in the middle of the two access staircases.

But in San Remo there was a second, very similar fountain, abandoned and badly damaged by neglect, which for years stood between two pine trees on the pavement by the sea, at the beginning of Via Nino Bixio on the side of the old station, until the 1980s.

Don Cortona, parish priest of San Giuseppe, an art connoisseur, asked the municipality for permission to use it. He restored it himself under the guidance of the Sovrintendenza alle Belle Arti, and it is now the new altar of the Chiesa della Pigna.

On the plaque above the Momber fountain, from which the water flows, an inscription reads: « to the memory of Colonel Momber, an example of kindness towards animals ».

(free elaboration from sources taken from various texts and authors; web and personal images)