The Lion's Fountain

It is one of the symbols of the City of Roses. The idea for its placement dates back to 1893, when Ivan Patev brought water from Mount Buzludzha in the Balkan Mountains with his own water source. The patriotic Kazanlak man decided to make a gift to the Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand I and his wife, the Italian Princess Maria Luisa. Construction of the fountain started in 1902, when the Prince visited Kazanlak. Moved by the gesture, he granted funds from the palace and sent the Italian architect Arnoldo Dzocchi to the City of Roses to design the fountain. Dzocchi is the author of the statue of Columbus in Buenos Aires, of Garibaldi in Bologna and of St. Francis of Assisi in Cairo. The ceremonial consecration was in 1903 and since then it has borne the name of the Princely or Royal Fountain. People also call it the Lion's Fountain because the three bronze spouts are shaped like lions' heads.