Elephant’s fountain

The Elephant’s fountain or even “Liotru’s fountain” was built by Gianbattista Vaccarini in 1757, who was inspired by the elephant of Minerva in Rome designed by Bernini.

The Palermo architect built the fountain using some historical relics of the city as symbol of rebirth after the eruption and the earthquake in 1669 and 1693, on the top he places the “U’ Liotru” (the elephant in Catania dialect) in lava stone, dates back to Roman age, that brings on back the Egyptian obelisk donated from the Circus Maximus to the city in medieval times. In the basement there are some carved cherubs and two bas-reliefs representing the city’s two rivers, the Simeto and the Amenano.

Some people suppose that the term “Liotru” resulting from the alteration of the name Heliodorus, who according to legend, after making many firms on the back of his magical elephant, was burned alive inside the Terme Achilliane in 778 A.D.  

There are other legends about the origin of the civic symbol of Catania. Some people believe it was a symbol of victory against the Carthaginian people (but there aren’t certain informations), others as a symbol of an indefinite Eastern religion, others believe that in the Byzantine age it was built as a talisman, and more traditionalists believe that the symbol derives from a Catania legend according to a dwarf elephant, whose species lived on the island in prehistoric times, has defended the nascent city from wild animals.