Fountain, place de la Palud

Address

Place de la Palud
1003 Lausanne

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In the centre of the square is the town’s oldest fountain, adorned with a statue representing justice. Close by, a clock presents the history of Vaud in animated scenes every hour from 9:00 to 19:00. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings this is the site of the country market, which also sets up shop in the neighbouring pedestrian streets. Every first Friday of the month, it plays host to a craft market. Typical cafes, boutiques and large, elegant shops complement what this high-class district, which is completely pedestrianised, has to offer.

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This is a quarter full of typical small bistros and craft shops. To the north of the Cité hill, at Place du Tunnel, avenue César-Roux avenue and Place de l’Ours, shops and quirky bistros cry out to be discovered. It is around the Cité hill, sculpted by the Flon and Louve rivers, that the mediaeval town grew. Its cobble-stoned pedestrian streets as well as its monuments, the Cathedral of Lausanne, the St-Maire Castle and the Old academy, bear witness to that.

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At the heart of the old town, the majestic Lausanne Cathedral overlooks the city. Seen as one of the most beautiful gothic art monuments in Europe, it attracts more than 400,000 visitors every year.

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The column and the statue were sculpted in 1584-85 by Laurent Perroud from Neuchâtel and his son Jacques, the former having passed away before its completion. Laurent Perroud built a number of fountains throughout western Switzerland. In particular he depicted Justice in Neuchâtel, Soleure and Moudon. The fountain in Lausanne features the typical blindfolded young woman bearing a sword and scales. The Pope, the Emperor, the Grand Turk and a magistrate are bowing in submission at her feet.
The ornamental central stack features a circular base with sculpted archways surmounted by a ribbed column decorated with acanthus leaves, coats of arms of the city and a garland held up by four muffles. A capital decorated with acanthus leaves and volutes tops the column off.
The stack and the column are copies, created in 1930; the originals are held in the Lausanne History Museum. The splendid spouts date back to 1557-59 and the dodecagonal basin was built in 1726.