About three and a half centuries ago, in 1660, the Fountain was built in Ottoman Empire style exactly in the middle of the bazaar where craftsmen, traders and travelers passed daily. Two years after its creation, the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çhelebi’s caravan passing through the cobbled market place of the town stopped fascinated by the beautiful stone fountain as big as a “poor house”. He left impressions on the pages of his book “Itinerary” in which he described every detail. The fountain is made of hewn stone carved with Moorish arches and under the roof there is a stirrup and a birdcage, again made of stone. “West side of the fountain is adorned with earrings, carved from one piece of stone, so it is sometimes called the Fountain with the earring. The legend says that this is the earring of the glorious Krali Marko. For the citizens of Samokov the Great Fountain is a symbol of the city and occupies a worthy place on the coat of arms of the municipality. Parts of its pipage, pine logs, drilled and assembled with iron clamps that bring water, were discovered during the construction of today’s Square in the 80′s of the XX century. Today one of the original wooden pipes can be seen in the museum. In 1928 the fountain is inscribed as a monument of culture. There is a belief that those who drink water from the Great Fountain will remain in Samokov forever.
