⭐ Travel Guide for Island Crete ⛵, Greece❗

Priuli Fountain – Fontana Nuova

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Priuli Fountain, also known as Fontana Nuova and Delimarkou Fountain, stands on Delimarkou Street, behind the Bodossakio School and opposite the Venetian Dermatas Gate. It was one of the last major public works constructed by the Venetians in Candia before the city surrendered to the Ottomans.

The fountain was built in 1666, during the final years of the Great Siege of Candia, which lasted from 1648 to 1669. The Ottoman besiegers had interrupted the water supply from the Morosini Aqueduct, which carried water from springs on the foothills of Mount Giouchtas, worsening the severe water shortage inside the besieged city.

The Venetian General Provisioner of the Armies in Crete, Antonio Priuli, discovered an underground source of fresh water in the moat outside the Bethlehem Bastion. The water was conveyed to a site opposite the maritime Dermatas Gate, where the new fountain was constructed.

The name Fontana Nuova means “New Fountain” and probably reflects the fact that it was the last monumental fountain constructed by the Venetians before the fall of Candia. During the Ottoman period, it also became known as Delimarkou Fountain, after the street on which it stands.

Priuli Fountain is an excellent example of Renaissance architecture. Its monumental façade is articulated by four columns and pilasters with Corinthian capitals and is crowned by a triangular pediment. Niches and decorated panels with elaborate relief motifs are formed between the architectural elements.

At the centre of the façade is an Ottoman inscription referring to Hüseyin Gazi Pasha, who arranged for water to flow through the fountain again during the Ottoman period. The inscription testifies to the continued use of the monument and the later alterations made to it.

The façade is now incorporated into the northern wall of its former water reservoir. It stands noticeably below the present street level, illustrating how the ground level of the city has risen through successive phases of construction and the accumulation of debris over the centuries.