Fountain at Velké náměstí, Stone fountain in Velké náměstí Square, Kroměříž, Czech Republic

The fountain at Velké náměstí is a stone Baroque fountain with a quatrefoil basin from which a prismatic pedestal rises, topped by four dolphins carrying an upper bowl and acting as spouts. Above them a putto sits on a dolphin's back. The sculpture is carved from Maletín sandstone, whose iron-rich concretions tint the stone locally.

The fountain is usually dated to 1666, when Bishop Karel of Lichtenštejn-Kastelkorn had it built with stone from Mírov and a stonemason from Olomouc; a 1655 date is also cited. It was moved to the middle of the square in 1811. In 1685 the bishop threatened the town council with a fine of 100 Reichsthalers if the fountain was not repaired and winter-proofed.

The four dolphins on the fountain's shaft double as water spouts, and the putto riding a dolphin on top follows Cesare Ripa's Iconologia as an allegory of a friendly nature. The stone is Maletín sandstone, recognizable by its brown iron concretions.

The fountain stands roughly in the middle of Velké náměstí, facing the Marian column and the Archbishop's Palace to the north. It was moved to this spot from another part of the square in 1811, so look for it at the square's centre rather than against a building.

The fish tail above the putto was broken off on 28 March 1969 during celebrations of hockey victories over the USSR; period photographs show the tail was made smaller in the later restoration. In 2015 the Kroměříž technical services carried out a full reconstruction, and a week after handover the fountain was damaged by wax dripping from candles placed there in memory of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks.