Aix en Province is known as the City of a Thousand Fountains. In the late 1800s, some canals allowed water to run in the basins of the fountains of the city. At first, these fountains were made for its practicality. The fountains later became stylistic and ornamental.
Our 3 favorite fountains were the Fontaine d’Albertas, the mossy fountain, and the Fontaine de la place de Verdun.
Fontaine d’Albertas is more of a traditional fountain but we saw dogs playing in it and birds getting some water from the top. The square it was located in was beautiful and created a great atmosphere. The mossy fountain was in the center of the city and the water is known to have healing powers. We watched many people reach their hands in and splash themselves with this water as they walked by. The Fontaine de la place de Verdun was unlike all the other fountains we saw. It was completed in 2019 and the shallow water accompanied by steps all around was purposeful. They designed this to be a footbath to cool down people who are walking around the city in the middle of summer.
