UK Garden Wonders Elephant Water Feature | Fountain | Aluminium

Product Information

The mysterious elephant was a symbol of the city long before it was officially put on the map. During the 9th through 11th-century Muslim rule of Sicily, Catania was known in Arabic as Madinat al-fīl, “The City of the Elephant,” hinting at the existence of u Liotru prior to al-Idrisi’s 12th-century description. A folktale regarding the elephant is set even earlier, in eighth-century Byzantine Catania. It describes a Catanese nobleman named Heliodorus (from whom the name Liotru might have derived), who turned to necromancy after losing a bid to become bishop of Catania to a certain Leo (later sainted as St. Leo Thaumaturgus, or “The Wonderworker”).

Consoli, Santi (1924). Sicilia gloriosa. Catania. p.119. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)There is no certain data on when and by whom the elephant statue was made. Over the centuries, various scholars have tried to answer this question, in some cases even drawing on myth. The latter include Pietro Carrera, who wrote in 1639 that the liotru commemorated a victory in a war between the Catanese and the Libyans. [9] However, the story, which the painter Giuseppe Sciuti immortalized in the great historical curtain of the Teatro Massimo Bellini, is totally fictional.

Francesco Colonna (1432-1527) - A statue of an elephant with an obelisk on top". www.rct.uk . Retrieved 2023-05-15. The Elephant Fountain is a well known cultural attraction in Catania and it is considered the icon of the city. Caloggero, Ignazio (2020-11-22). Culti dell'Antica Sicilia (in Italian). Centro Studi Helios srl. ISBN 978-88-32060-08-9. Milanesi, Luigi (2015). Dizionario Etimologico della Lingua Siciliana (in Italian). Mnamon. ISBN 978-88-6949-056-9. Gaudioso, Matteo (1929). Rivista del Comune. Catania. p.119. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)

You may also like…

More likely are the theories conceived by Ignatius II Paternò Castello, [10] Santi Consoli, [11] and Matteo Gaudioso. [12] The former claimed that the elephant came from a circus (it would later be ascertained that it was actually the obelisk that had been among the attractions of an ancient circus), the latter two that it was a reminder of a religion whose traces are now completely lost. U Liotru (also called, more rarely, Diotru) owes its appellation to the mispronunciation of the name Heliodorus. The latter, according to popular legends, was a nobleman from Catania who allegedly tried unsuccessfully to become bishop of the diocese. Having fallen from grace, he is said to have become an apostate and to have been considered a " disciple of the Jews, a necromancer and a smith of idols. [6]" He would oppose Bishop Leo II the Thaumaturge, who would then condemn him to be burned alive in the Forum Achelles. This phantom character was linked to the elephant because a legend said that he was its sculptor and even used to ride it [7] to travel from Catania to Constantinople. Also according to the legend, Bishop Leo allegedly had the statue taken outside the walls so that it would be forgotten, but the people would still give it divine honors. However, all the adventures of such Heliodorus and related connection with the stone elephant are to be considered mere invention.

Valpreda, Susanna (2015). Sikelia: la Sicilia orientale nel periodo bizantino (in Italian). Bonanno editore. ISBN 978-88-7796-995-8. Spina, Santo Daniele. Memorie e Rendiconti dell'Accademia di Scienze lettere e belle arti degli Zelanti e dei Dafnic. Acireale: Stab. tip. Galatea, 1958. p.251.

After the news that Marble Arch was getting a huge artificial hill, Elephant Springs is further proof that councils and developers are paying increasing attention to the provision of outside spaces within plans. The redevelopment of Elephant & Castle has been highly contentious, with many seeing it as one of the capital’s most blatant acts of gentrification in terms of what kind of housing has been removed and what kind it has been replaced with. Charles Emerson Standing on the centre of Piazza del Duomo, the Elephant Fountain (Fontana dell’Elefante) is considered the symbol of Catania, an important icon for locals who love and take care of it. The connection between Catania and the liotru is very ancient. An ancient legend tells of an elephant that allegedly hunted ferocious animals during the founding of Kατάvη. [16] Under Muslim rule, the city was known as Balad-el-fil or Medinat-el-fil, meaning "city of the elephant." Amari, Michele (1933). Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia vol. I. Catania. pp.344–345. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)

Contrary to the fanciful versions of not only popular vulgate, the statue of the elephant symbolizing the City of Catania is the gnomon of the sundial placed in the center of Piazza Duomo. The monument is a measurer of time by sunlight and is therefore "heliotric," which in the Catania dialect has become "liotru." After the 1693 earthquake, the reconstruction of Catania coincided with the period of greatest diffusion of sundials in Sicily and other parts of southern Italy. Carlo Maria Carafa, prince of Butera, is considered the most illustrious "gnomonist," that is, an expert in the construction of illustrious sundials, of that period. It is not possible that he participated in the construction of the Catanese sundial in Piazza Duomo. According to the late 18th-century traveler Jean Houel, "the obelisk is Egyptian; it is made of granite and covered with hieroglyphics. According to a widespread notion in Catania, it was placed in a public square so that it would serve as a stylus, or gnomon, to tell the time by its shadow cast on a dial drawn on the ground. [8]" There were two restorations carried out during the 20th century: in 1905 a second pool was built, and in 1998 the gate and garden were removed so that today it is possible to sit on some steps at the foot of the base. [5] U Liotru [ edit ] The fountain The myth [ edit ] Houël, Jean-Pierre (1782–1787). Voyage Pittoresque Des Isles de Sicile, de Malte Et de Lipari. 4. Paris. p.48. The plinth consists of a white marble pedestal located in the center of a basin, also made of marble, into which jets of water fall and spout from the plinth. On the plinth two sculptures reproduce the two rivers of Catania, the Simeto and the Amenano. Above is the statue of the elephant, its proboscis facing the cathedral of St. Agatha, patron saint of Catania. [1]a b c Farrell, Joseph (2014). Sicily: A Cultural History. Interlink Publishing. The Second City: Catania. ISBN 978-1-62371-050-7.