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The Fountain of the Lions in Nemi: the echo of imperial ships in the town
Strolling through Nemi along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the eye is drawn to the Fontana dei Leoni. This is no ordinary fountain. Its bronze lion heads are a direct tribute to the legendary ships of Caligula, recovered from the nearby lake. It is a piece of imperial history brought back to life in the heart of the village, a detail that many visitors overlook.
An inspiration from the distant past
The current lion heads, a bronze work by Luciano Mastrolorenzi dating from 1951, are inspired by the protomes — decorative elements in the shape of fierce animals — that once adorned the beams of the imperial ships. Yet the idea is even older. Mastrolorenzi's work replaced an earlier decoration bearing the same iconography, but carved in the more humble peperino, the local volcanic stone.
Water and memory
Today the purest spring water flows through the fountain. On closer inspection, its story is engraved on a marble slab bearing a Latin inscription. It does not celebrate the emperor, but rather a work of great civic value: the construction of the fountain by the town's authorities.
The fountain is located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the historic centre of Nemi, and is freely accessible.
