Bed and Salerno - Largo Campo

One of the most famous monuments in the historic center of Salerno is the fountain of Largo Campo, of which there is some fragmentary historical information.

The existence of a fountain at Largo Campo does not necessarily have to be identified with the current one. The first mention of its existence, in fact, is found in a document of the Church of Sant'Andrea de Lavina from 1639. In 1692, it is mentioned by Pietro del Pezzo in the route of the first procession of the silver statue of San Matteo. According to these sources, it should be dated at least to the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, the collection of elements that constitute it today indicate a more complex construction.

Already the architectural structure highlights a chronologically different craftsmanship compared to the water mouths of the masks and the basin, but also the metal dolphins, which in turn are even more recent. Based on these considerations, it can be affirmed that the domed basin and the two masks with senile heads crowned with vegetal garlands, as river deities, can be considered original parts dating back to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This first fountain should correspond to a water channeling policy initiated by the city municipality, of which there is evidence at least from the mid-seventeenth century. It is in correspondence with the flow of spring waters from the mountain, which in the descending stretch from Via Tasso retains the medieval name of Lama. The monumental aspect with the current elevated attached to private buildings must have taken place at least around the mid-eighteenth century. This situation, in fact, is found in an unpublished document dated 1775, which serves as a chronological limit for the elevated. In the deed of purchase of an apartment, it is stated that it "is located in the place called Campo opposite the palace of Mr. Gio Batta Bottigliero attached to the city fountain."

As already emphasized by Natella, the structure of the elevated shows an articulation that is not found in the seventeenth century.

The central niche serves as the axis of symmetry for two pairs of side pilasters connected at the top by masonry surmounted by four floral half-pinnacles (a typical Rococo decorative element that can also be seen on the facade of the cathedral). In truth, behind one of these, a late nineteenth-century date has been detected, which could refer to a replacement. Therefore, the overall fountain with its elevated takes on a formal definition at least around the mid-eighteenth century, or shortly thereafter.

Certainly more recent, from the late nineteenth century or even the early twentieth, are the two metal dolphins that facilitate the water intake.

After the earthquake of 1980, four marble vases were removed from the upper part of the monument because they were at risk of falling and therefore potentially dangerous, and moved to the Diocesan Museum of the Cathedral of Salerno. After the four objects were restored, they were returned to their original location.