Saturday, September 5, 2009

Il Porcellino Thursday Sept 3

The Mercato Nuovo has been around since the 11th century, and used to be a silk and straw market.

Just outside the market to the south is a statue of a boar that is known as il Porcellino. Legend is that if you rub his snout and put a coin in his mouth, you’ll return to Florence. (source- virtualtourist.com )

Somebody showed us that you can alternatively launch the coin from the top slope of his snout into the small "wishing well" grate below him. All the coins are given to different city charities...

He is also some sort of fountain- he constantly has this tiny trickle of water coming out of his mouth, making him look like he's drooling. Ha ha!

1 comment:

Mike Hollingsworth said...

Put a couple coins in there for me and Anna.

Hope you're having a great time!

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