Route: the old districts and their fountains
THE FOUNTAINS STORY TELLINGThere is a very special way to discover the most picturesque corners of Tione’s hamlet, to walk in search of the historic fountains in the various districts, to discover the traces of the past that are still present and tell of the customs and traditions of the people from Tione in the past.
THE FOUNTAIN’S ROLEIt is difficult today to understand the importance and role that fountains played in the past, given that they are merely ornamental elements of the major squares of our cities, but they were once the places of aggregation and socialisation, the places where women would gather to not only wash clothes, but also to converse and often with their children, who could then play with each other. These were also the places where people could draw drinking water with buckets, to take to their homes and in whose reservoirs they watered their livestock.
It should be clear in mind that in past, settlements stood near springs where they could get the water that any people needed to live.
TIONE AND ITS BROOKSThus Tione, located into an hollow, has for centuries enjoyed the streams that descended from the granite foothills of the Adamello, first, and then also the limestone slopes on the opposite side.
As early as 1502, there is evidence of the presence of three water mains: one for water from the Maftina stream for the hamlets of Villa, Pleù and Sivrè; one for the Fontanella spring that supplied the Cantes district; and one for water from Bolbeno for Brevine.
Discovering the past traces, through the historical fountains
PIAZZA MARCONIStarting from Brevine, the historic centre of the hamlet, we can find the fountain of Piazza Marconi, which is divided into two basins: the classic fountain with an adjoining wash-house, equipped with a small canopy to shelter the washerwomen on rainy days.
PIAZZA GUIDO BONIThe fountain is located next to Piazza Guido Boni, which was overlooked by the Tribunal and from which Via dei Monti starts, leading us to our next destination: the fountain in the Cantes district.
CANTESThis is the highest placed fountain in the village and is fed by a spring, the Fontanella, which flows just above the village. The stone fountain was originally divided into two sections: one for watering animals and the other for washing clothes.
BIGOLOT, BORON E PIAZZA DEI MAZZE’We continue to the rione delle Ville, in the upper part, where we find “Fontana dei Bigolot” and “Lavandin dei Boron”, as well as the fountain in the piazza dei Mazzè, located in the central square of Tione's most populous quarter.
PLEU’Follow Via Cavour to reach the “Pleù district”, where there is a large square in the centre of which a stone fountain was built in 1867. The fountain features a tall granite column and is flanked by an elegant votive fresco depicting a sacred conversation from 1895.
SIVRE’ Continuing along the small lane to the left, it is possible to reach 'Sivrè', in whose square is the fountain of the district, built, in the same way as the one of Pleù, with the new settlement that arose after the fire of 1871. Between the two quarters is located fountain that historically served both hamlets.
