Fontana di Orione

The pale marble Fontana di Orione (1553) depicts a lounging Orion, the mythical founder of Messina. The fountain was constructed by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli (pupil to Michelangelo) to commemorate the construction of Messina's aqueduct – the city's houses were the first in Sicily to receive running water. The figures that adorn it represent the rivers Tiber, Nile, Ebro and Camaro.