Fontaine du Marché-aux-Carmes
The Fontaine du Marché-aux-Carmes stands in Paris, within the green setting of square Gabriel-Pierné. This neoclassical fountain belongs to the city’s artistic heritage.
Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard sculpted the fountain for the Carmes market, where it supplied water. Fragonard was the son of painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
After the market closed, workers moved the fountain from its original position near rue des Noyers and place Maubert. The fountain now occupies a green space.
Its simple basin supports a central marble structure, while two jets release water beneath sculpted details. A bifront head represents Abundance and Commerce.
French inscriptions name these figures, with floral decoration and small cornucopias surrounding their faces. A basket of flowers and fruit crowns the structure.
Plant reliefs cover the fountain’s sides, and a ship appears above the water jets. The ship resembles an emblem associated with Paris.
France recognises the Fontaine du Marché-aux-Carmes as a historical monument, giving this urban artwork a formal place in the country’s heritage.
- City
- Paris
- Content updated
Take this page with you
The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.
Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Paris. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
What is myTuur?
myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.