The Boy and Turtle Fountain

While exploring Plaça de la Independència in Girona, we noticed this small and playful fountain beneath the trees. Officially known as the Font del Nen de la Tortuga, it depicts a young boy seated in an unusual position on the back of a sea turtle. Water originally flowed from the turtle’s mouth into the decorative basin below.

The fountain was commissioned by the Girona City Council and installed in 1945. It was designed by the city’s municipal architect, Juan Gordillo, and carved by the brothers Josep and Jordi Oliver Viver. The brothers later worked with Gordillo on other public projects in Girona, including the fountain dedicated to the Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer in Plaça de Catalunya.

Its installation was part of a larger improvement project at Plaça de la Independència. The pavement was renewed, and a new pedestal was added to the Monument to the Defenders of Girona standing at the center of the square. The turtle fountain was placed at the square’s northern end, where it provided both decoration and a source of water.

The entire fountain was made from Girona stone, the locally quarried limestone used throughout the city. Its solid construction has allowed it to remain part of the square for more than eighty years, even as the buildings, cafés and daily activity around it have continued to change.

Much smaller than the monument dominating the center of the square, the fountain contributes its own character to the setting. It is the kind of public artwork that can easily be passed without notice, yet it has quietly remained part of everyday life in Girona since 1945.