Located in the Plaza de San Leandro, this fountain is known as the Pila del Pato (Duck Fountain) because of the bronze spout in the shape of this bird that crowns it. It is made up of three vessels of decreasing size, all of them circular in section. The second and third vessels are supported by baluster-shaped shafts. In the central vessel there are four zoomorphic masks that serve to pour the water.
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- Pila del Pato *
The fountain has been in its current location since the mid-twentieth century, but it is not the place for which it was conceived. In fact, it has occupied various locations in various parts of the city.
In 1850 it was located in the Plaza de San Francisco, in the place where the Fountain of Mercury is today. It remained there only for a few years, since in 1855 it was moved to the northern end of the Alameda de Hércules, near where the monument to the Niña de los Peines is located. From there it was moved to the vicinity of the Prado de San Sebastián, close to the Courthouse building. Its next location would be the Plaza de las Mercedarias, in the San Bartolomé neighborhood, from where it was moved to its current location in 1965.
It is likely that some elements from the previous Fountain of Mercury that it replaced were used to build the fountain in 1850. This was designed by Juan Fernández Iglesias at the beginning of the 18th century.
Painting from around 1850 where you can see the Duck Fountain (Pila del Pato) in its original location, at one end of the Plaza de San Francisco
