Mercury fountain

A mercury fountain is a fountain, which is built for use with mercury instead of water.

A well-known modern mercury fountain was built in 1937 by American artist Alexander Calder for the Spanish pavilion at the Universal Exhibition of 1937 in Paris and is now in the sculpture garden of the Museum Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona. The fountain was commissioned by the legitimate Republican government of Spain, in order, on the one hand on the Francoist offensive in the Spanish Civil War against the mercury mines in Almaden ( Prov. Ciudad Real), which were among the most important in the world, and on the other hand, the economic and capitalist interests behind the military coup that triggered the civil war, to draw attention.

Around the year 1000 there were in the palaces of the Caliph of Cordoba ( Medina al-Zahra ), Cairo and Baghdad filled with mercury pools that were used for the game with light effects, also applied in large porphyry mussels mercury ponds ( for Cairo 50 cubits in square handed ).