Fontaine-perron de Nivelles

About

The Fontaine-Perron, literally fountain-perroen, is located on the Grand Place of the city of Nivelles, in Belgium (province Walloon Brabant). It was built in Gothic style.

History: The perroen, without a fountain, is the oldest piece and a first version was founded in the 14th century. It symbolized the freedoms (1328) acquired by the city of Nivelles at the expense of the ruling abbess of the abbey of Nivelles. In 1523, abbess Adrienne de Mourbecq converted the perroen into a public fountain with a hexagonal ground plan. In the middle a hexagonal column arose. From each plane of the column a lion's head comes forward that sprays water, so that there are six rays of water. The board of the Spanish Netherlands brought a statue of Archduke Albrecht to the top of the fountain. The basin of the fountain was a little rebuilt in the 19th century. The city council removed the statue of Albrecht in 1922 and instead installed a copper statue representing the archangel Michael. Prince-Regent Charles had the monument classified as a protected heritage of Wallonia (1949), because of her ancient, historical and aesthetic value. Thieves stole the image of archangel Michael...