Fontaine des Quatre-Tias, Renaissance fountain in Fontenay-le-Comte, France.

The Fontaine des Quatre-Tias is a Renaissance fountain with four water spouts held up by Doric columns and topped with a triangular pediment bearing Latin text. The structure rests on a solid stone base positioned at the heart of the town, making it easy to spot when walking through the historic center.

The fountain was completed in 1542 under François I, as the date carved at the bottom of a bas-relief of two unicorns drinking from a fountain, the town's former emblem, indicates. Since the mid-19th century it has been attributed to master mason Liénard de La Réau, but this attribution appears unfounded and is contradicted by stylistic analysis. In 1898 the municipal council entrusted its restoration to Octave de Rochebrune, who altered it considerably, citing an 18th-century drawing that has never been found. It was listed as a monument historique in 1926.

The Latin motto on the pediment, Fons Fontanacum Felicium Ingeniorum Scaturigo, calls Fontenay a spring of fine minds and is said to have been spoken by François Ier. The fountain was long known as the Fontaine des Beaux-Esprits, in the era of the town's illustrious figures, then as the Fontaine Royale before the Revolution and the Fontaine des Frères after the nearby school of the Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes.

The fountain sits in the center of Fontenay-le-Comte and is easy to reach on foot while exploring the historic streets. Its central location makes it a natural landmark for navigation and a convenient spot to gather before heading to nearby attractions.

The word 'tias' in its name comes from the local Vendée dialect and refers to the four water spouts that flow from the fountain. Few visitors realize this regional term is embedded in the structure's very name, revealing a connection to folk language and local identity.