Fuente Zaide

In the Moorish period, Alcaudete was known as al-Qabdaq or al-Quibdaq: “city of the springs”. An example of this are its countless fountains, such as this one, the Fuente Zaide.

The Fuente de Zaide is in Renaissance style, with a triangular pediment, the county shield and two lions, through whose mouths the water flows into the basin for standing the ewers in, which served as a drinking trough. Next to the fountain, there were public washing areas, where there is now a play park.

This fountain has a legend: a sad and moving love story. Set in the 14th century, the main characters are a young Muslim called Zaide — the son of the miller at the Fuente Amuña water mill — and Aixa, a slave given by the king as a gift to the governor of Alcaudete castle, Mr Fernando Alonso, who fell in love with the beautiful Aixa although she never loved him.

Zaide and Aixa love in silence until, one day, they decide to run away to the Kingdom of Granada, but they are discovered at this fountain, where the young Muslim is killed and Aixa is devastated for the rest of her life.