A pillory sculpted in the 1400s and a Mannerist fountain commissioned in 1575 by Queen Catherine of Austria, wife of Portuguese King Joao III: symbols of civic autonomy and royal benevolence in Praça de Santa Maria, the main square of historic Óbidos in the Centro region, Portugal.
Óbidos, Centro, Portugal: the sculpted stonework of the 15th century Pillory, the column where criminals were punished and also a monument to the town's autonomy, rises above and behind a drinking fountain commissioned in 1575 by Queen Catherine of Austria, wife of Portugal’s King Joao III, for the Praça de Santa Maria, the paved main square of this ancient fortified town. The Mannerist or late Renaissance fountain features two gargoyle-shaped spouts, a deep basin and the Queen’s coat of arms. An aqueduct commissioned by Queen Catherine in 1573 carried drinking water to the fountain for the people of Óbidos. The name Óbidos derives from the Latin “oppidum”, meaning “walled city”. It was founded much earlier, during the Celtic period in Portugal, and it only became a Roman possession in the 1st century AD, when it was called Eburobrittium. The Romans were followed by the Visigoths and other Germanic tribes in the 5th century. The Moors took over in the 8th century before Portugal’s first king, Alphonso Henriques, conquered the town in 1149. Óbidos is known as the “wedding present town” because it was a gift King Dinis gave to Queen Isabel on their wedding day in 1282. Óbidos then became the property of Portuguese queens until the 1800s.
Size: 4912px × 7360px
Location: Óbidos, Centro, Portugal
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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