The Lions in Heraklion is the square of the Fontana Morosini, the ornate Venetian fountain with four lions with water gushing from their mouths. The Fontana Morosini is in Eleftheriou Venizelou Square in the centre of Heraklion, but the inhabitants of the city never use the official name, usually referring to it as the Lions Square.
The fountain with the lions is one of the most important monuments the Venetians bestowed on Heraklion.
Francesco Morosini made it in 1628, who, within a complicated for that period, system of pipes he managed to bring water from the Archanes’ springs to the thirsty town of Heraklion.
Today it is one of the most beautiful monuments of the city situated at the center of the most busy square of the town, Eleftherios Venizelos Square.
The eight-lobe cistern, which is based on a special stand, is decorated with embossed mythological depictions and maritime figures like tritons, dolphins and various coats of arms, while the water was flowing from the mouths of four lions. At the very top of the fountain there was a supernatural statue of Poseidon that was standing out but fell probably due to an earthquake.