Fontana dell'Impero

Below Piazza Santa Teresa in Brindisi, the Fountain of the Empire stands at the foot of the stairs leading toward the harbour. Built in green marble in 1940 by the Province of Brindisi, it is crowned by an eagle and bears the arms of the city and province.

Why it matters

The fountain records the interwar remodelling of the Santa Teresa district. The 1935 town plan reshaped the area around the square and its stairways, in a redevelopment that also demolished the old fishing quarter of Sciabiche. The fountain was completed in 1940 and dedicated to Benito Mussolini and King Vittorio Emanuele III, as its inscription records. Its severe lines and imperial symbolism make it a surviving public monument of the Fascist period.

What to notice

The fountain's design is built around its heraldic and dedicatory elements. An eagle crowns the structure; below it are the coats of arms of Brindisi and its province. The 1940 inscription names Mussolini and Vittorio Emanuele III. Green marble, arranged in broad, austere planes, gives the monument its formal character at the foot of the twin stairways.

Context and history

The fountain was built by the Province of Brindisi in 1940 as part of the redevelopment around Piazza Santa Teresa. The project followed the 1935 town plan, which created the square and belvedere stairways after the demolition of the Sciabiche fishing quarter. After the Second World War, the fountain remained in place while its dedication became a record of the political culture of the period. A conservation project began in 2019, and the municipality reported the restored fountain's return to the city in October 2020.