Cretan towns have always had a water supply problem; this was faced by the Venetians by constructing aqueducts and fountains.
Eight fountainssurvive today in the city of Rethymnon, of which only one dates back to the Venetian era; it is the Rimondi fountain, also known as Vrisakia to the locals.
The fountain was built in the heart of the city, by A. Rimondi, the rector (commander) of Rethymnon, thus it was named after him. It used to meet a significant part of the city’s water supply needs; it consists of three troughs, where water flows from three lion-shaped spouts. Four columns with vertical fluted carving, which end up in capitals of the Corinthian order, support an architrave with a Latin inscription. Behind the fountain there is a small cistern that supplies the spouts with water.
During the Turkish rule, a hemispherical dome was added above the fountain; only one of the square columns on which this used to stand, survives today.
Vrisakia is still a characteristic and most frequently photographed corner of the old town, as well as a favourite meeting point for the Rethymnians.
