Culture Madrid

Fuente de Neptuno

Two fountains from a single design facing each other, and the football city that turned them into enemies.

1 min readPlaza de Cánovas del Castillo

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Neptune on his shell, carved from white marble by Juan Pascual de Mena.

The sea god in front of you and come from the same eighteenth-century plan and were both designed by , yet in Madrid they have become each other's opposites: since the twentieth century, has celebrated its titles at this fountain and at the other one.

Neptune rides a shell pulled by two sea horses, surrounded by snakes and sea creatures, and carved him from white marble in the 1780s.

The two gods looking at each other across the whole length of the boulevard was part of the design, while the loathing between their supporters came along much later.

We keep heading south, until begins on our left.

Stop 4 of 8The boulevard of Charles III62 min walk · 8 stories · Free
← Stop 3The Salón del PradoStop 5 →Museo del Prado
Map showing Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, 28014 Madrid
Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, 28014 MadridMadrid
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Sources. Story: Hispanopedia, Fuente de Neptuno and Fuente de Cibeles; Ayuntamiento de Madrid, esMadrid. Photos: Photo of the Fuente de Neptuno: Marcelo Teson, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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