Location: Sasnovaja St, Gomel, Belarus
This fountain is located in Festival Park at the entrance leading to the Mound of Glory, a memorial in honor of the Soviet soldiers who fought in World War II and the liberation of Belarus.
The fountain was created at the Tsentrolit plant, a renowned producer of grey and ductile iron castings, and castings from bronze and brass. Although Gomel has had a cast iron foundry since 1883, the Tsentrolit Foundry was not built until the 1960s.
The filigree canopy closely resembles pattern #20, a design by the legendary Scottish foundry of Walter Macfarlane, and the design on the bulbous form on each pillar resembles the base of lamp pillar #1229. It’s therefore quite possible that this structure was cast using cloned designs and patterns of the Saracen Foundry in Scotland.
The canopy with highly decorated cusped arches displays lunettes with images of a lion mascaron. Floral relief decorates the circular, open filigree, ribbed dome which is supported by eight decorative columns. Beneath the canopy stands a square structure with peaked roof which contained the source of drinking water.
Glossary:
- Cusped Arch, the point of intersection of lobed or scalloped forms
- Filigree, fine ornamental work
- Lunette, the half-moon shaped space framed by an arch, often containing a window or painting
- Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
Memorial Drinking Fountains 