La Foncalada

The Foncalada Fountain dates from the 9th century and was built during the reign of Alfonso III the Great (866-910). It is the only example of a civil construction for public utility purposes in the High Middle Ages.

It protects the source of a spring of drinking water that gushes from the ground, which is collected in a pool covered by a rectangular ashlar body with an arch and a barrel vault, whose upper part is finished off with a double slope to the north and south, and ends laterally with a smooth nacelle fascia.

The main façade faces east and its pediment is sculpted in relief with the Victoria Cross with the alpha and omega hanging from its arms. The semicircular arch is cambered and cut into large stone voussoirs.

Around 1848, the Monuments Commission repaired the fountain and the rear arch was probably covered up.