Fontana della Tazza di Porfido, Monumental fountain in Villa Comunale, Naples, Italy

The Fontana della Tazza di Porfido is a monumental fountain in Villa Comunale featuring a large circular basin supported by four stone lions. At its center stands a lava rock structure decorated with a Medusa head, surrounded by four pedestals bearing sculptural busts representing the seasons.

The fountain was built when the Villa Comunale promenade opened, to hold Giuseppe Sanmartino's sculptural group of Parthenope and Sebeto. Ferdinando IV replaced that group in 1791 with the Toro Farnese, which in turn was removed in 1826. The present monolithic basin of Egyptian granite, taken from the temple of Neptune at Paestum, had stood in Salerno Cathedral since the 11th century before Francesco I brought it here.

Local people named it after the ducks and geese that once inhabited the basin regularly. These animals became part of the fountain's everyday presence in the park.

The fountain sits along the main central pathway of the public Villa Comunale park and works well as a meeting point and landmark. Visitors can easily locate it by following the main paths through the park.

The porphyry name is misleading: the basin is actually a monolithic block of Egyptian granite, found in the temple of Neptune at Paestum and kept in Salerno Cathedral from the 11th century before Francesco I moved it here in 1826. The four Egyptian lions beneath it were designed by architect Pietro Bianchi.