The Genoese Fountain in Constitution Square

The Renaissance Fountain that changes location and name

The fountain of Genoa, of Charles V, of Neptune, or of the Swans, as it is listed in the General Catalogue of the Historical Heritage of Andalusia, is a mannerist work of marble, commissioned by the Emperor Charles V to some Genoese masters to embellish the Plaza de las Cuatro Calles, now Plaza de la Constitución. It arrived in Malaga in 1554 and was installed in said square, being moved from one end to the other according to urban needs.

Romantic legend has it that said fountain was seized by Bernardino de Mendoza from some Turkish pirates under the command of Barbarossa himself, who in turn had captured it when he was coming to Malaga.

The Emperor Charles V divided it into two parts because he considered it too large, sending the lower part to Úbeda and leaving the upper part with the eagle in Malaga.

In the 17th century it was restored, stylised and enriched sculpturally. It was in 1805 when the Alameda Principal was inaugurated that Governor Jaime Moreno proposed moving it there, as did his successor Teodoro Reding. Two years later it was located at the eastern end of the road, closest to the port. In 1898 it was relocated to the western end, leaving its place to the monument to the Marquis of Larios. In 1924, a year before the central axis of the Alameda was opened to traffic, the fountain would be moved again. In this case to the southern sector of the Park, in a roundabout with lush vegetation and near a duck and swan pond.

At the end of 2002, it returned to the Plaza de la Constitución, being placed off-centre to accommodate the different events that take place in that square.

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