Fontana di Diana

Diana is the goddess of the hunt, wild animals and wilderness, childbirth and virginity, and was often shown carrying a bow and arrow. She was the daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo, the god of music, truth and prophecy.

The fountain was created by Giulio Moschetti in 1907 using reinforced concrete. Moschetti won the commission from Syracuse's city council on 1 February 1906, shortly after completing the Fountain of Proserpina in Catania. He built the Diana fountain with his son Mario over ten months, at a cost of 19,000 lire; the finished monument stands 5.12 meters (17') tall and faces south across the piazza. Moschetti, later known as the 'sculptor of the Mediterranean,' died in Catania in 1909.

Diana occupies the top of the fountain with her bow and a hunting dog; below her, Arethusa is shown mid-transformation into a spring, with Alpheus looking on in astonishment. Ovid's Metamorphoses tells the fuller story: cornered by Alpheus after he saw her bathing, Arethusa called on Diana for help, and the goddess turned her into flowing water rather than let him catch her. Alpheus is said to have followed her current under the sea to Sicily, where Arethusa's spring still surfaces today on Ortigia, not far from this fountain.

The fountain includes a triton and a mermaid with a child on her lap riding sea monsters.

Restoration

The fountain has been restored more than once: in 1996, and again in 2017 after cracks appeared across the statues of Diana, Arethusa, Alpheus and the four Tritons. In September 2026, several of the fountain's decorative friezes were found on the ground in Piazza Archimede and were recovered and passed to Sicily's heritage authority for repair.

Visiting

The fountain stands in Piazza Archimede on Ortigia, the historic island center of Syracuse, within walking distance of the Duomo and the natural Fountain of Arethusa on the waterfront.