Rehoboth nears installation of Italian terracotta fountain

Years in the making, a terracotta fountain from Italian artist Enzo Zago is expected to be installed in Rehoboth Beach’s Garden of the Navigators shortly after the new year.

The city made the announcement on its Facebook page Dec. 21. Sposato recently poured the concrete pad, and the fountain is scheduled to be placed and plantings installed by early January, read the post.

Zago is from Greve-in-Chianti, which has been a sister city to Rehoboth Beach since 2010. Greve is believed to be the birthplace of 16th century explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who explored the Delaware coastline in 1524.

In 2012, Greve officials created a garden in honor of its connection to Rehoboth. A year later, a garden reminiscent of one found in Greve was created in Cranberry Park. In 2018, the city announced it would accept a fountain from Zago.

This past April, city officials, officials from Greve-in-Chianti, Rehoboth Beach Sister Cities Association and the state’s Commission on Italian Heritage and Culture all participated in a celebration of the fountain officially being gifted to the city. At the time, the fountain was still on the docks in New York City. It was shipped south soon after and has been at the city’s Streets Department building since then.

More recently, in November, city commissioners signed a memorandum of understanding that the sister city association would pay for all costs associated with installation of the fountain – estimated to be at least $10,000 – and the city will maintain it into the future.