UK Garden Wonders Elephant Water Feature | Fountain | Aluminium

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Contrary to the fanciful versions of not only popular vulgate, the statue of the elephant symbolizing the City of Catania is the gnomon of the sundial placed in the center of Piazza Duomo. The monument is a measurer of time by sunlight and is therefore "heliotric," which in the Catania dialect has become "liotru." After the 1693 earthquake, the reconstruction of Catania coincided with the period of greatest diffusion of sundials in Sicily and other parts of southern Italy. Carlo Maria Carafa, prince of Butera, is considered the most illustrious "gnomonist," that is, an expert in the construction of illustrious sundials, of that period. It is not possible that he participated in the construction of the Catanese sundial in Piazza Duomo. According to the late 18th-century traveler Jean Houel, "the obelisk is Egyptian; it is made of granite and covered with hieroglyphics. According to a widespread notion in Catania, it was placed in a public square so that it would serve as a stylus, or gnomon, to tell the time by its shadow cast on a dial drawn on the ground. [8]" More likely are the theories conceived by Ignatius II Paternò Castello, [10] Santi Consoli, [11] and Matteo Gaudioso. [12] The former claimed that the elephant came from a circus (it would later be ascertained that it was actually the obelisk that had been among the attractions of an ancient circus), the latter two that it was a reminder of a religion whose traces are now completely lost. The mysterious elephant was a symbol of the city long before it was officially put on the map. During the 9th through 11th-century Muslim rule of Sicily, Catania was known in Arabic as Madinat al-fīl, “The City of the Elephant,” hinting at the existence of u Liotru prior to al-Idrisi’s 12th-century description. A folktale regarding the elephant is set even earlier, in eighth-century Byzantine Catania. It describes a Catanese nobleman named Heliodorus (from whom the name Liotru might have derived), who turned to necromancy after losing a bid to become bishop of Catania to a certain Leo (later sainted as St. Leo Thaumaturgus, or “The Wonderworker”).

Francesco Colonna (1432-1527) - A statue of an elephant with an obelisk on top". www.rct.uk . Retrieved 2023-05-15. Consoli, Santi (1924). Sicilia gloriosa. Catania. p.119. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)Valpreda, Susanna (2015). Sikelia: la Sicilia orientale nel periodo bizantino (in Italian). Bonanno editore. ISBN 978-88-7796-995-8. The connection between Catania and the liotru is very ancient. An ancient legend tells of an elephant that allegedly hunted ferocious animals during the founding of Kατάvη. [16] Under Muslim rule, the city was known as Balad-el-fil or Medinat-el-fil, meaning "city of the elephant."

The Elephant Fountain is a well known cultural attraction in Catania and it is considered the icon of the city. Standing on the centre of Piazza del Duomo, the Elephant Fountain (Fontana dell’Elefante) is considered the symbol of Catania, an important icon for locals who love and take care of it.

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There were two restorations carried out during the 20th century: in 1905 a second pool was built, and in 1998 the gate and garden were removed so that today it is possible to sit on some steps at the foot of the base. [5] U Liotru [ edit ] The fountain The myth [ edit ] The plinth consists of a white marble pedestal located in the center of a basin, also made of marble, into which jets of water fall and spout from the plinth. On the plinth two sculptures reproduce the two rivers of Catania, the Simeto and the Amenano. Above is the statue of the elephant, its proboscis facing the cathedral of St. Agatha, patron saint of Catania. [1] Milanesi, Luigi (2015). Dizionario Etimologico della Lingua Siciliana (in Italian). Mnamon. ISBN 978-88-6949-056-9.