Neptune and Amonites - Bologna, Italy
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T-Team!
N 44° 29.656 E 011° 20.558
32T E 686253 N 4929440
The Fountain of Neptune is a monumental civic fountain located in the eponymous square, Piazza del Nettuno, next to Piazza Maggiore. There are several ammonites in the base of the fountain.
Waymark Code: WM16QYK
Location: Emilia–Romagna, Italy
Date Posted: 09/20/2022
Views: 4
There are several ammonite fossils which can be found in the stairs on the front of the Fountain of Neptune. I found them when I was doing a Earthcache geocache (
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"Ammonites are an extinct group of marine invertebrate animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e. octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish) than they are to shelled nautiloids such as the living Nautilus species. The earliest ammonites appear during the Devonian, and the last species died out during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Ammonites are excellent index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which a particular species or genus is found to specific geological time periods. Their fossil shells usually take the form of planispirals, although there were some helically spiraled and nonspiraled forms (known as heteromorphs).
The name "ammonite", from which the scientific term is derived, was inspired by the spiral shape of their fossilized shells, which somewhat resemble tightly coiled rams' horns. "
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About the Neptune fountain:
"The construction of the fountain was commissioned by the Cardinal Legate Charles Borromeo, to symbolize the fortunate recent election of Borromeo's uncle as Pope Pius IV. To clear space for the fountain, an entire edifice had to be demolished.
The design and assembly of the fountain was completed by the Palermitan architect Tommaso Laureti in 1563. The fountain was completed in 1565.[2] The over-life-size bronze figure of the god Neptune was completed and fixed in place around 1566. The statue was an early design by Giambologna,[3] who had submitted a model for the Fountain of Neptune in Florence, but had lost the commission to Baccio Bandinelli."
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