Qui fontem quaeris sitiens, hic siste viator; Et mentem, et corpus duplice fonte riga.

CarlosPedroso

CarlosPedroso

New Member

Hello! I have been exploring my little village here in Portugal, and there's lot's of old christian chapels and buildings.

There's a really cool secluded place with a big fountain and really small chapel. In there I've come across a slab with this written on it:

QUI FONTEM QUAERIS SITIENS, HIC SISTE VIATOR;
ET MENTEM, ET CORPUS DUPLICE FONTE RIGA.

I don't have any education with latin, I'm just curious, I did look up each word in a dictionary and tried to translate the first verse, I'm probably way off:
For the ones who seek the fountain, the thirst ends here, traveller.

I've tried to translate the second verse and got stuck, I can't place the word "duplice" in there.

I would appreciate it if somebody translated the slab.

Here's a photo that I've taken of the slab: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DbRF8I9xiFd7g-Xn91nLIMNHBxY0GVxm/view

Thank you for reading!
 
Pacifica

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis
Location:
Belgium
Hi,

"If you are thirsty and seek a fountain, stop here, traveler, and water both your mind and your body with a twofold fountain."
 
CarlosPedroso

CarlosPedroso

New Member

Gladly! I've compiled a little gallery of the photos I've taken.

I'm making a game inspired by this area so these are not "artistic photos", they're just for reference.

Here's some of the photos I've taken: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1txXmLJEGIJUXyoSnGQGNNAjjXWU9yZLl

Here's a 1998 Portuguese archive with some really pretty photos: http://www.monumentos.gov.pt/Site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=3870

And here's some really old photos from around 1920: https://arquivo.cdi-maceiraliz.pt/index.php/barroquinha

I'm still not sure about on what they've meant by "twofold fountain". Maybe two fountains? There's the big natural fountain, maybe for showering and the small fountain, with the face, for drinking?

Anyway, I just really like exploring these places and figuring out what they mean/story behind it. There's another place with stuff I still need to research/figure out like some weird symbols on a cross and the numbers on a chapel but no latin so it's off-topic here.

Thank you for taking interest!
 
Pacifica

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis
Location:
Belgium
I'm still not sure about on what they've meant by "twofold fountain".
Click to expand...
The fountain is twofold because it waters both body and mind. It waters the mind figuratively, of course. You said the fountain was next to a chapel, so the explanation must be that the traveler is invited to get water for his body from the fountain and (spiritual) water for his mind from the chapel.
 
CarlosPedroso

CarlosPedroso

New Member

That's it! I guess I was focusing too much on a physical fountain. That's a much better explanation.
Thanks again, I really appreciate it.
 
Pacifica

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis
Location:
Belgium
It could possibly also imply something about holy water but I don't know enough to tell.
 
Glabrigausapes

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris
Location:
Milwaukee
Very cool, man. I really like the formulaic language of that epigraph; only wish I knew where to find more like it. :think:
Reminds me of Theocritus 23 or Erastes, where the lovelorn speaker tells what will be his epitaph:

τοῦτον ἔρως ἔκτεινεν . ὁδοιπόρε μὴ παροδεύσῃς
ἀλλὰ στὰς τόδε λέξον . ἀπηνέα εἶχεν ἑταῖρον
Love slew the man: o wayfarer, fare not away,
but stand and read this: he had a cruel friend.

It's much like hic siste viator (stand/abide here, traveler).
 
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