The set of masks that decorate this fountain was a gift to the City of St. Augustine by its sister city in Spain, the City of Avil, birthplace of Pedro Men?ndez, founder of St. Augustine in 1565.
Presented in 2005 to the people of St. Augustine by the Mayor of Avil, the Hon. Santiago Rodr?guez Vega, the masks form part of the historic and cultural monuments that occupy the grounds of the Visitor Information Center.
The masks are reproductions of the six faces that serve as water spouts for the municipal fountain or ca?os in the San Francisco neighborhood of Avil, the Ca?os de San Francisco is one of that city's most renowned historic landmarks.
Since the early twentieth century, St. Augustine and Avil have maintained close ties, exchanging gifts and visits by citizens, public officials and students. In the 1920s, Avil gave St. Augustine the casket and burial headboard of Pedro Men?ndez and in 1972 a statue of the founder, which since then has stood before the front entrance to City Hall. In 1997, St. Augustine donated the anchor of the seventeenth century Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Se?ora de Atocha, to the Anchor Museum Philippe Cousteau, on the Asturian coast near Avil.
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