Chafariz da Rua das Taipas, Porto

A granite obelisk gives Chafariz da Rua das Taipas the presence of a small civic monument rather than a simple tap. In the deep, rounded recess, you can notice the sphere set within a portico framed by pilasters. Beneath it, a tank and a half-round bowl each have a water spout, while a column above the entablature ends in a pointed finial.

Plant-like ornament runs through the design, joined by a circular detail on the obelisk that resembles a mirror. The recessed portico had a practical purpose as well: it offered cover to people drawing water. This fountain begins with a demand from the neighbourhood.

In seventeen seventy-two, residents near Largo do Postigo das Virtudes petitioned Porto’s municipal council to have a fountain made. The fountain was constructed in the historic centre in that same year, and its built-in fountain element dates to the late seventeenth century. By the close of the eighteenth century, an older fountain here already needed replacing. Since nineteen thirty-eight, Chafariz da Rua das Taipas has held Portugal’s public-interest heritage designation.