Dönertaş Public Fountain

Dönertaş Public Fountain

Now you are looking at Dönertaş Public Fountain, which is famous for its marble ornaments and one of the most beautiful examples of the city's water architecture.

Dönertaş Public Fountain is located at the corner where Osmanzade Slope and Anafartalar Street intersect. Built in 1814 by Seyyid İsmail Rahmi Efendi from Osmanzadeler, the public fountain was named after the rotating column at the corner where the two facades meet.

The history

Although this column was originally placed to understand whether the balance of the building was disturbed, it was also used as a wish stone by the public for many years. It was believed that the wishes of those who could turn the stone would be fulfilled.

The cubic-bodied structure, built entirely of marble, is covered with a tile-covered dome. A window and a fountain are placed on the facade facing Anafartalar Street, and a window and a door with a metal grid are placed on the facade facing Osmanzade Slope. There are inscriptions on the panels above these doors and windows.

It is possible to see many flower and plant motifs in the ornaments made on marble in the form of embossing. There is a monumental mosque on the panel above the door, and a panorama of the city with a mosque in the center on the panel above the fountain. In the center of the city, which is surrounded by walls, a mosque with three domed narthexes and double minarets is located.

Dönertaş Public Fountain is very valuable in terms of architecture as well as reflecting the public fountain culture in the Ottoman period. In this public fountain built for charity, free drinking water was distributed to passers-by and sherbet on holidays and special occasions, as in the others.

The Dönertaş Public Fountain, whose restoration was carried out by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality in 2006, is not used today, although it is in good condition.