Isn’t it often the instance that places on a familiar stretch of road still reveal new sights even after many years in the area?

Such is the case with the ‘fontanina dell’amore’, or little fountain of love, which is near the big new roundabout with the anchor at the northern exit to Fornaci di Barga.  (For information about the anchor on the roundabout see my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/anchors-away/ ).

Surrounded by lush woods the fountain pours out deliciously cool water, so welcome in the heat we continue to experience this summer.

The fountain and surrounding area were being restored by three workers who were having a barbie lunch when we arrived.

On the fountain wall is a delightful poem by Geri di Gavinana dedicated to the source. Geri di Gavinana was a local worker and poet who died in 1975. He has been described as the ‘poet of little things’. The general gist of the poem is that the fountain is a traditional tryst for lovers seeking a secluded spot away from prying eyes. The fountain is then asked, like a fly on the wall, what secret rendezvous it has been witness to.

Fornaci di Barga, home of part of the manufacturing process of the Euro, is not an especially distinguished place. However, it does have its unknown corners and we were glad to come across the ‘fontanina dell’amore’, the little fountain of love, yesterday. It truly made our otherwise humdrum morning.

Here is a video (with thanks to ‘Il Giornale di Barga’) showing the re-dedication of the fountain’ with schoolchildren reciting and singing poems by Geri di Gavinana last year.