Fotaine du Casino-Spa

In the middle of the gardens of the Casino de Spa , where a kiosk once stood where the spa's orchestra performed, you can now see a luminous fountain surrounded by benches and flowerbeds.

The central part of this fountain, from which the jets of water spring, is decorated with copper sconces of the obelisks carrying luminous spheres, erected around 1925 in the gardens. They stood on either side of it while the kiosk was rebuilt at a location closer to Koningsstraat. This kiosk disappeared in 1947.

The water spouting in jets from the fountain falls back into a rectangular basin and then flows down through bronze mascarons placed at the four corners of this basin, via inclined planes ending in flowery basins , into a second one, even larger. Inaugurated on September 17, 1955, this fountain was decorated at the end of May 1956 with four bas-reliefs reminiscent of the Sauvenière, Géronstère, Barisart and Tonnelet fountains.

These stone bas-reliefs and the bronze masks are the work of the sculptor Frans Van Ranst, who settled in Spa in 1946, where he was in charge of the sculpture, ceramics and modeling courses at the School of Arts and Crafts. This outstanding artist, who died in Spa on March 2, 1987, was born in Dendermonde on March 23, 1906. The son of a carpenter, he attended the School of Fine Arts in his hometown

willem vandenameele