If you’ve ever been to Jelačić square in Zagreb, you’ve probably stopped at the Manduševac fountain that’s situated on the eastern side of the square.
According to a famous legend, the spring of Manduševac got its name when a knight in passing came across a girl named Manda while she was collecting water from the well. Tired and thirsty, he asked her to scoop him some water by saying “Mando, dušo, zagrabi mi” – “Manda dear, scoop out some water for me”. The first two words combined gave the name to Manduševac, the third to Zagreb.
Manduševac was used as a water well by the residents of Zagreb for centuries, and in 1852 the site was officially pronounced a public well. However, in 1898, the Jelačić square was renovated and paved with flagstone, and the water well was filled and covered. Manduševac was lost and forgotten for a whole century, until 1986 when the site was rediscovered during another renovation project.
The fountain is connected to the city’s main water supply these days, but it’s not used as a source of drinking water anymore. That might change in near future, though, as the 1postozagrad (1percentforthecity) volunteer platform put together an appeal aiming to restore the fountain to its former glory.
They applied a proposal to the competent authorities, explaining the idea behind their initiative. As Manduševac was traditionally used as a public drinking water source for centuries, they consider the object should again have its original purpose. They proposed a possible solution you can see on the image below – they suggested four of the existing ground poles be replaced with drinking fountains. The object would retain its current form, and the site would be made more valuable for the locals and visitors.
According to 1postozagrad, a similar proposal they applied in the past was supported even by the mayor Milan Bandić. We hope they have more luck this time!
Source: zagreb.info
