Fuente de Pierres Vedel. Celadas

This fountain is the work of the French master Pierres Vedel, the same author as other well-known works in the province such as the Arches of Teruel, the foundations of the Tower of San Martín, the Collegiate Church of Mora de Rubielos and the cathedral of Albarracín (where the artist is also buried).

The date of its construction, 1560, is engraved on the central voussoir of the arch and architrave of the fountain.

The work stands out for its originality and imagination, the main characteristics of this great engineer and architect.

Until 1560, there was only the “pozo de la balsa” or “la balsa del pozo”. This site is referred to in ancient documents in both ways. Today, a poplar plantation and a large willow tree stand on the floor of the well, which is paved but covered with alluvial soil.

The water from this well is at a low level so that it can be brought to the village itself. Pierres Vedel was imaginative and, next to the first houses of the village, he marked out a pentagon (about 500 m2 of surface area) which he emptied, thus creating a hollow or cavity, like a large well, at a lower level than the water in the well of the pond. In this way, the water can flow without difficulty from its source to the desired location. The rest is a question of walls.

The pentagon, emptied of earth, is enclosed by strong ashlar or masonry walls and divided into two parts: one for people and the other for horses or livestock.

At the base of the wall, on the right-hand side, there are three pipes whose water falls into a large pool with a drain, which fills the zariches that border the base of the wall to the S and NE, and is used for watering the cattle. The excess water from the zariches has an underground drain (the cárcabo) to the so-called quinchas

The way down to the spouts is via stone steps with wide landings. The descent to the zariches (drinking trough) is via a paved ramp supported by round, gently sloping stone ridges so that horses or livestock can go down to water without difficulty.

The artistic part of the fountain consists of a semicircular arch on which rests a small pediment with a stone gabled roof. This small fountain is reminiscent of the Romanesque style and is made entirely of ashlar.

The three spouts (the “cañico” and the two “caños cuernos”, as they are called in Celadas) cross three large slabs of carved stone, behind which are the reservoirs, where the water from the springs flows. At present, the right-hand horn pipe is unusable.

It is worth noting that Pierres Vedel used the water from the so-called “well of the raft” and two other springs that he discovered or illuminated. From one of these springs to the spouts there is a beautiful, round gallery, 60 cm wide and high enough to pass through with almost no need to bend down. The gallery is about 650 m long, with vents or registers every 70 m. It has recently been cleaned and the old tile gutters have been replaced by modern plumbing: two PVC pipes and a cement gutter for the drainage of the San Roque trough.

In addition to the water from the well (agua del cañico) and the spring of the caño cuerno, there is a third spring that comes down from San Roque, on the side of the road, whose water comes out through the pipe that fills the black stone trough and the washing place. This water does not reach the fountain and flows through the concrete gutter of the gallery until it is lost in the quinchas. This black stone trough dates from the beginning of the 20th century, and replaced the old paved basin under the well house.