Nova fountain in Tarquinia has a large deep basin covered with barrel vaults.
It is bounded on the bottom by a ‘macco’ lining with six arches, on columns with capitals, at 2 meters from the rock. Here were six spouts that receive water from a conduit.
The fountain dates back to the pontificate of Onorio II (1124-30) and was the main source of water supply for the city.
In the fourteenth century even washrooms were built and use of the fountain was regulated in the articles of the Statutes of Ortolani (1379).
In 1545 the Statute of the city entrusted it to gardeners and shoemakers, who had to provide for its maintenance and annual cleaning.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a cistern was built by changing the original course of the water and by altering the use of the fountain.
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