Fontaine du Château d'eau de Montmartre, Renaissance Revival fountain in Montmartre, France.
Fontaine du Château d'eau de Montmartre is the decorated facade of an 1835 octagonal water tower at 9 bis rue Norvins. Two Renaissance pilasters with low-relief lambrequins frame a semicircular niche under a shell-shaped cul-de-four vault; dragons spread their wings and tails on either side of the round arch. Above, a triangular pediment shelters a marble table inscribed with the city's contract and the date MDCCCXXXV.
The structure was built in 1835 under architect Philippe Auguste Titeux's direction as a water tower. It originally served as the main water supply system for residents living in the Montmartre area.
The octagonal tower now houses the Commanderie du Clos Montmartre, an association founded under the 1901 law that brings together lovers of Parisian wine. The marble table under the pediment does not carry the usual Latin verses but a stone-engraved copy of the contract between the city and the construction company, followed by the names of municipal council members and the date MDCCCXXXV.
The fountain stands in a small garden on Place Jean-Baptiste-Clément, at the corner of Rue Lepic and Rue Norvins, separated from the street by a gate. It is reached on foot through the Montmartre lanes; the nearest metro stations are Abbesses and Anvers. The bronze door on the Rue Norvins side gives access to the small ground-floor room of the former water tower.
The bronze urn in the niche is one of the most important in Paris, decorated in high relief with naiads, tritons and a lion's head, its handles formed as sea serpents carved in the round. The marble table above carries no verses but a stone copy of the contract between the city and the building company, dated MDCCCXXXV.
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