As Saint Francis wrote in his Canticles, water is “multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta” (very useful and humble and precious and chaste). Supplying towns and cities with ‘pure’ water for drinking and also for cooking and washing has been fundamentally important since antiquity.
Perugia’s Fontana Maggiore fountain is a monument to water, medieval art and the power of its communal government. Its architecture and sculptures are the subject of G. B. Vermiglioli’s work with its drawings and engravings by Silvestro Massari dating to 1832. The Montepacciano aqueduct was built in the 13th century with a view to supplying the fountain, and thus the town, with water and traces of this remain in Danti, Spada and Coronelli’s map of the Perugia area. Engineer Giovanni Cerrini’s topographical map dating to the 1820s shows the 14th century aqueduct at the top with the new project shown below. There are a great many other beautiful fountains in Umbria’s town squares and streets but Fontana delle ventisei cannelle, next to Basilica di S. Maria degli Angeli, merits a special mention, with a drawing and engraving by Francesco Providoni. The fountain was built for the use of the pilgrims who crowded into Assisi on 2nd August, the day of the Indulgence of the Porziuncola. Other images focus on public wash houses and highlight and commemorate the hard work done by washerwomen.
Healing use of water emerged in the 17th century and grew in popularity in the two subsequent centuries with the contribution of medical studies and observations. Many of Umbria’s spas and mineral water springs have been used since antiquity, with Terme di Fontecchio in Citta di Castello being an example. Nocera’s waters were the subject of a treatise by doctor Florido Piombi in 1720, with a view of its Bagni, among many others. It should be remembered that, in 1894, Felice Bisleri – who had recently set up the Ferro-China plant – bought rights to the Angelica springs in Nocera Umbra, with the result that Angelica mineral water and the Ferro-China liqueur were publicised together in an attempt to imbue them with an image of health and strength. Many other waters were considered to have therapeutic properties, with the Mojano spring in Assisi being an example.
Parco della Fonte di Sangemini – a nature park was set up in the late 19th century to promote the mineral water of the same name. Its water was to be drunk both morning and evening for 15-20 days. Perugia’s Bagni di S. Galgano, which had been famous in the Middle Ages, came back into fashion in the 18th century but its lifespan was short and the baths closed in the early 20th century. Many of Umbria’s springs have been used commercially for bottling both in the past and today. A 1955 guide lists a grand total of 20 sites with at least one mineral water spring.