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Origin and history

The Wallace fountains of Place Louis-Lépine are two 2.71-metre high cast iron edicles located on the island of La Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. They occupy two symmetrical locations in the centre of the square, between the pavilions of the flower market, near the commercial court and the Hôtel-Dieu. Although more than a hundred Wallace fountains exist in Paris, these two are the only historical monuments since 1970.

The installation of these fountains would go back to the 1870s, like most of the Parisian Wallace fountains. They bear the signature "CH. LEBOURG SC" and the date of 1872, but photographic archives and the Municipal Water Atlas of 1893 do not mention them. An article from Gaul in 1912 confirmed their installation at that time. Their protection in 1970 underlines their unique heritage value among the public fountains of the capital.

Place Louis-Lépine also houses two smaller, unprotected Wallace fontains on the edge of the Corsican wharf. These edicles, designed to provide free drinking water, illustrate Sir Richard Wallace's philanthropic heritage, although their exact presence in this place is only documented from the beginning of the twentieth century.

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