Piazza del Duomo and Fountain in Taormina, 2005

This Baroque style fountain, built in 1635, is in Taormina marble with three concentric steps as its base. On each of the fountain's four sides there are some small columns supporting basins; mythological ponies overlook the basins and fountain water flows out of their mouths. The eastern base of this large fountain contains a fourth basin, larger than the others but no longer used since it was a watering-place for animals. There is a smaller octagonal basin in the middle of the fountain base with four putti resting on it; on the east side, two of these putti hold two smaller putti each, forming the base of an octagonal basin decorated with three seals showing their heads and tails.

Three mythological characters resembling Tritons stands in the middle of this latter basin with their arms crossed over their heads so as to support another basin decorated in low-relief; a round base inside this basin holds a basket of fruit on the top of which stands Taormina's coat-of-arms. The city's coat-of-arms normally pictures a male centaur but in this case it was turned into a female centaur and a two-footed one at that

text from: www.gate2taormina.com/taormina_en.htm