Segantini 04: Costume grigionese – Bündnerin am Brunnen, 1887

"Bünderin am Brunnen" shows a young shepherdess drinking at a fountain – an everyday picture at that time. The motif is considered an archetypal representation of drinking; water is a symbol of the origin of life.

Fountains in Savognin

At the time of Segantini there were 14 wells in Savognin. There, water for the daily household was fetched, washed and the animals soaked. Today there are still 10 fountains, which serve only as an ornament.

In 1886, the first water supply with hydrants was built in Savognin. At the same time, the fountains were equipped with a cast fountain stick. Earlier wells drew water from a stream or river via simple wooden pipes. In 1935, the water supply was modernized: to supply the houses with running water and each stable with a drinking trough, two reservoirs were built. The drinking water was collected in springs on both sides of the valley. In 1965, the great construction boom forced the municipality to build another, larger reservoir on the right side of the valley.

Text and pictures about the fountains by Joachim Wasescha, Savognin.