Mehmed Paša Sokolović's Fountain

Out of the once numerous Belgrade fountains, only this one remains standing to this day. The only mention of this fountain from the 16th to the 18th century, was by Evliya Çelebi, who in 1667 mentions it located in a trench around the Narin kale (central fort).[3] Çelebi described two inscriptions on the fountain: This drinking fountain was renovated by the benefactor Sokollu Mehmed Pasha 1576-1577, and Come, my God, if on this world you wish to drink from paradise spring, with note that the latter was inscribed in 1597-1598.[4]

This raised a question whether the pasha only renovated some old fountain in 1576, or it was finished at his behest 20 years after his death. It is believed today that he built a new fountain in 1576-1577, as there are two other endowment fountains by Mehmed Pasha in Istanbul, both of which are very similar to the Belgrade's one. Next to the fountain there was a Suleiman the Magnificent's Mosque, dedicated to the Ottoman sultan. Its exact location is unknown today, and it is not known if they were specifically searched for during the various archaeological surveys in the fortress. One of the reasons is funding, as Marko Popović, head of the Archaeological Institute and a longtime surveyor of the fortress said, archaeology is a science which is a privilege of the rich nations.[4]

The only western source that mentions this fountain is Gerhard Cornelius Van Den Driesch who visited Belgrade in 1719. He mentions a drinking fountain in the Upper Town being supplied by water from an hour's walk away.[3] This spring, known as the Colorful Spring, was at the time located in the Mali Mokri Lug village area, and today in the Zeleno Brdo neighborhood of Zvezdara. It was one of the three surviving Roman aqueducts which conducted water into the fortress. The Ottomans in time roofed the aqueduct, and it was used as a tunnel by the Dahije to infiltrate the fortress in 1801, and overthrow and kill Belgrade's vizier Hadji Mustafa Pasha. The Dahije then demolished the aqueduct, in fear that someone might use it against them, the way they did, thus cutting the water supply to the fountain for the next 200 years.[4][5]

Next to the fountain there was a Suleiman the Magnificent's Mosque, dedicated to the Ottoman sultan. Its exact location is unknown today, and it is not known if they were specifically searched for during the various archaeological surveys in the fortress. One of the reasons is funding, as Marko Popović, head of the Archaeological Institute and a longtime surveyor of the fortress said, archaeology is a science which is a privilege of the rich natons.[4]

The fountain was buried until 1938 when the first conservation work was done on the object. Additional works were done in 1960. During the archaeological excavations in 1979 the façade with the completely preserved decorative stone slabs was discovered, so as the stone trough. Third side was reburied until the fountain was thoroughly examined in October 2015.[2][6][7] The fountain was reconnected to the Belgrade's waterworks system in 2006.[4]

A thorough renovation began in May 2017 and was to finish by October, but the deadline is later moved to 2018. A 20 m (66 ft) long and 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall wall of the corten steel was added, for both the esthetic and static purposes. The benches were also nstalled.[2] When the first pictures appeared, showing the steel fence and added downhill pathway ramp made of planks, the public reaction was loud and negative, perceiving the new additions as out of place and in collision with the architecture of the fortress.[1]

From the Institute for the protection of the cultural monuments it was replied that the new elements represent modern ideas, that each generation should leave its mark and that "taste is subjective, while the quality is measurable". They also added that the new objects clearly show that they are not part of the fortification, so "the visitors won't be deluded". Unlike the modernist interventions around it, the fountain itself was restored using stones with the characteristics as closer to the original as possible.[1]

During the digging, several archaeological discoveries were made. Remnants of the Roman castrum (from the 3rd century AD), two urns from the Bronze Age and remains of the Neolithic object were discovered. All the findings were conserved and buried again.[1][8]