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Key figures

Origin and history

The fountain of the Château d'eau, also called the fountain of Bondy or the fountain of the Lions of Nubie, was designed by the engineer Pierre-Simon Girard and erected in 1811 place du Château-d'Eau (current place of the Republic), in Paris. Made of iron cast iron by the Creusot factory, it marked a technical innovation for the time, as evidenced by the inscriptions visible on its pedestal. In addition to its decorative role, it served as a water castle, feeding the fountains of the north of the Marais, although access to its water was forbidden for reasons of hygiene.

In 1867, when architect Gabriel Davioud renovated the Place de la République, the fountain was considered too modest for the new urban project. She was then moved to the entrance court of the market-abattoir of La Villette, on the current Place de la Fontaine-aux-Lions, where she served as a drinking pot for cattle. This shift reflected the functional and aesthetic transformations of Paris during the Second Empire, where public facilities were often reassigned to meet the changing needs of the city.

Ranked as historic monuments in 1979, the fountain now embodies an industrial and hydraulic heritage of the 19th century. Its history illustrates the evolution of water usage in Paris, between public supply, urban embellishment and adaptation to neighbourhood changes. The presence of cast iron lions, symbols of power and exoticism, also recalls the influence of the Egyptian motifs in public art of this period.

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