Barcelona

The Font dels Ocellets was a leisure spot and meeting place for the city’s residents as they collected water from the fountain that was fed by an old mine believed to have been in C/ Marquès de Mulhacén. Today’s Plaça de Pius XII was then occupied by a farm with a chapel named after an image of Christ (known as the Crist de l’Estela) that is venerated there. The chapel received a considerable number of visitors as, coming back from the fountain to the city, they could cut out a good part of the way by crossing the Estela farm. The owners allowed visitors right of way, provided they headed for the chapel.
One of the reasons why the 1952 Eucharistic Congress held in Barcelona chose Plaça de Pius XII for its monumental altar was that it had been original site of the chapel dedicated to the Crist de l’Estela. The farm, chapel, image, mine and fountain have all since vanished, swallowed up by the dynamics of urban growth. Today the only record of the fountain and recollection of the water we have is the name of the gardens.