Water, one of the most precious and important resources for life, is also the natural element most celebrated by art and history in Altofonte, the municipality in the Metropolitan City of Palermo that is famous for its green valleys, for its agricultural products, but above all for its sources and springs.
The Fontana Grande, the Fontana Impero and the Abbeveratoio are some of the monuments paid tribute to water, including tanks and masks which, if on the one hand they have the concrete function of helping us reach the precious liquid, on the other they forever frame the sources from which the lifeblood gushes.
Modern and ancient, beautiful or functional, fountains and fountains of Altofonte are among the most interesting attractions of the village, all to be discovered with a walk in the historic center.
The ancient sources of Altofonte
Altofonte, immersed in the green and fertile countryside on the outskirts of Palermo, has always benefited from the numerous natural springs scattered around the village, between streams and springs at high altitudes. The mountain water, in these parts, gushes from source on the Moharda over a thousand meters high and the rocks it crosses on its way to the surface are thousands of years old. From here originate the waters that are also found downstream, enriched with mineral salts, which flow luxuriantly from the aquifers.
If drinking fresh water directly from the spring is the best you could wish for during a walk in the mountains, when you are in the village, comfort also plays its part and this is how, in past centuries, the inhabitants of Altofonte they are used to convey the purest spring waters to tanks and collectors in the town, thus allowing a greater number of people to access the precious resource. It is precisely at this moment that nature and art meet: we are in the eighteenth century, when one of the oldest fountains of Altofonte, the one next to the Church of Sant'Antonio, built in 1794 by the will of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon and therefore called Bourbon fountain. Even older is the opposite fountain, built in 1630 by order of Cardinal Scipione Borghese and renamed Borghese Fountain.
Both fountains feature two water jets, marble slabs and decorations inspired by geometry and the animal world.
In 1884 it was built in the center of the Empire Fountain, with the mask that overlooks Via Barlotta.
The main feature of ancient sources is that they develop around the source with marble wall slabs, to convey the water into a large collection tank.
Altofonte's modern sources
With the arrival of the new century, new fountains also arise in the village: in Altofonte they spread cast iron fountains along the main streets of the centre, but there are also monumental stone fountains such as the Drinking fountain of via Antoninello, composed of two collection tanks, which are arranged on the sides of the stone cippus. This fountain was built in 1911, while the village wash house it is located in Via Vittorio Emanuele, near one of the oldest buildings in the village.
Until the last century, it was not uncommon for spring water to be used in the town to operate the mills, which were then used to obtain the energy necessary for the community's economic activities, while at least until the fifties, the women of the town went to the wash house to do the laundry.
Altofonte beyond sources
Arrange a tour in Altofonte means getting ready to discover all the downtown fountains, enjoying the spring water also at the natural springs outside the village, while learning more about the history of the centre. However Altofonte is not exclusively the town of water and fountains, but is also known as the oil country. And then, it will be a real pleasure for visitors to taste this excellent product in local restaurants or in farmhouses, where it will also be possible to buy 0 km oil. Or take part in the Park Oil Festival which is organized in the month of December.
Speaking of culinary suggestions, in Altofonte we also recommend tasting the arancini, which here are prepared with meat sauce or with ricotta and spinach, but also the murata meat and the cutlets in vinegar, the swordfish rolls and the beccafico sardines , while for dessert you can of course taste the Sicilian cannolo, but you can also taste the delicious almond paste.
How to get to Altofonte
Altofonte, in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, is a center that is easy to reach both by car and by train.
Tourists who choose to travel in the car, they can take the A19 Palermo-Catania and continue to the junction for Palermo, from which they will then turn towards Altofonte, about 8 km away.
Visitors who prefer the train, can get off at the Vespri station in Palermo: here, taking a bus or private shuttle, it will be easy to get to the town.
© Image by Alessiox.94 at Italian Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
