Fontaine des Quatre Lions fountain in Ajaccio is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the city, portraying Emperor Napoleon, surrounded by four lions.
The monumental fountain was build to its current location out of Corsican granite in 1827.
The plans for the fountain came from Jérôme Maglioli, who also participated in building of the Palais Fesch.
You can find the fountain at the end of the elongated Place Foch square, so that the monument’s facade is towards the square and Bay of Ajaccio…acting as a ‘point de vue‘, as you approach the monument from the harbor.
PHOTO: A view to Fontaine des Quatre Lions, which is located within central Ajaccio, as part of Place du Maréchal-Foch, close to the city hall’s Salon Napoleonien museum.
PHOTO: A closeup of the fountain’s marble Napoleon statue, an artwork by Maximilien Laboureur. The statue shows Napoleon as an emperor dressed as a Premier Consul, in ancient Roman toga.
The location of the fountain is historically important, as this was the place that contained the main entrance port to the earliest Genoan settlements in Ajaccio.
- Salon Napoléonien museum,
- Grotte Napoléon memorial,
- Napoléon et ses frères monument, and
- Maison Napoleon, Napoléon’s birthplace.
Place Foch is popular among tourists also for having (on the other end of the square) the Petit Train Ajaccio (www.petit-train-ajaccio.com) mini-trains, which you can use to tour the main attractions in the city.