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The fact that in order for water to come out we have to turn on a tap, in the old Barcino, was not so normal. In ancient Roman times, it reached the city thanks to aqueducts.
They delivered water to their cities but not to the homes of their citizens. So, if they did not have wells, they had to go get water from public wells or from fountains that were built around the city.
The decline of the Roman Empire led to the disuse of aqueducts and, therefore, their sources. Water obtained from existing wells began to be used. It was not until between the 10th and 11th centuries that the construction of an irrigation ditch or canal began, known by the name of the Rec Comtal or Regomir, but its use was initially only for agriculture and later for industry.
The city's water supply continued to fall short of urban needs. In the 14th century, the Consell de Cent planned to bring water from Montjuïc to the population between 1302 and 1303, which became a reality in 1314 with a fountain in the Boqueria portal.
In the year 1356, the fountain known as the Santa Ana fountain was built, the oldest in use in Barcelona. It was followed by the missing fountain that was in the Plaza de Sant Jaume and, finally, in 1367, the Sant Just fountain was built, which is the protagonist of this article. Later there were more fountains, among which the Santa María del Mar fountain, from 1403, stands out.
The fountain, which is located in the Plaza de Sant Just, is at an angle to the streets Lledó and Palma de Sant Just. It was originally built in the Gothic style, rehabilitated in 1831 in a neoclassical style.
There is a legend that links the construction of the fountain to Juan Fiveller. While hunting in the Collserola mountain range he discovered a spring whose waters he planned to bring into the city and thus alleviate the lack of the precious liquid at that time.
There are two versions of historians in this regard, while some place its original construction in 1367, others delay it to 1427.
The main front of the fountain has three masks made of Montjuïc marble inserted by three taps and at the bottom a sink for draining water, made of the same material.
In its upper part there is an image of Saint Just holding the palm of the martyr with one hand and on the sides two shields. On the Palma de Sant Just street side in the center, we see the relief of a falcon catching a partridge in memory of the Fiveller hunts. Two masks with the coats of arms of Catalonia and the city topped the fountain on the sides.
On the Lledó street side, it offers the same reliefs on the upper part. The differences are found in the wall where they appear: one in a kind of chest, which some call a well chest, from which the well or water tank could be cleaned, and a typical quadrilobed Gothic window.
The fountain overlooked the parish cemetery that was in the square, next to the church of Saints Justo and Pastor. With the prohibition of necropolises in the city in 1831, in 1884 the square was built and the old fountain was restored. The baked earth balustrade was added to the top.
Above the fountain there is a garden in romantic style, which already existed before the balustrade. In 2003 it was restored again as it is preserved today.
