Fountain of the Tortoises, Huntington Park

As of July 2007 a major restoration of Huntington Park’s Fountain of the Tortoises is now complete. Conservation efforts included the repair of deteriorated mortar joints, patching of large chips and cracks in the central marble urn, the application of waterproof caulking to the red marble basins and the replacement of two cast bronze tortoises that were stolen in May.

Sited near the intersection of California and Taylor Streets on Nob Hill, the fountain is one of six existing reproductions of the 15^th century original still located in Rome’s Piazza Mattei. Designed by Giacomo della Porta, the Roman version was known as the Fountain of the Dolphins until Pope Alexander VII commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to add four tortoises climbing into the upper basin.

The San Francisco reproduction was purchased in Italy in 1911 by William and Ethel Crocker and was installed in their Hillsborough estate. In 1954 their children gifted the fountain to San Francisco where it remains a regal presence crowing one of the city’s most elegant hilltops.

This multi-phase restoration was made possible by the generosity of the citizens of Nob Hill and the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association.