A little history of the Innocents fountain
And also
The tops
This nice Renaissance fountain had a pretty incredible story! Completed in 1549 by sculptor Jean Goujon and architect Pierre Lescot, our fountain was first located on the corner of rue Saint-Denis and rue Berger, next to the Innocents cemetery.
When they dissolved this cemetery, in 1786, they moved the fountain on the location of the mass grave. The building had only 3 faces at that time: sculptor Augustin Pajou added a fourth one in 1788 when architects Poyet and Molinos restored the fountain.
Low-reliefs represent nymphs, that’s why it was also called “Nymphs fountain”!
They destroyed the cemetery and raised a vast market instead, the Innocents market. In 1858, they replaced it by a small garden. Architect Davioud put the fountain in the middle of a vast pond, in 1860. And voilà!