The fountain, which leans against the Vatican walls near the no longer existent Porta Cavalleggeri, was built in 1565 on commission by Pope Pius IV Medici (1559-1565) for “public utility and the comfort of the equites”, as recalled by the epigraph embedded in the wall. Originally placed to the right of the exterior front of the gate, it was reassembled in its current position in 1942. After the works for the construction of the Principe Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta tunnel, the drinking trough was replaced by an ancient sarcophagus.
