The Graziano family is happy to offer you a comfortable accommodation in our B&B. The entry of this building,, dating back to 1700, is in Via Martini,, in the heart of the old town of Iglesias. The beautiful Maimoni fountain, located in Piazza Lamarmora, is easily visible from the six balconies of the building. The 1700's style fountain (well) is characterized by a big puteal and four pillars surmounted by four spheres. The pillars supported two arches crossing each other. Some steps, that weren’t too high, were all around and allowed people to draw water easily. A sculpted group representing a young man that grabbed hold of a beast with his right hand, towered over the two arches, just on the intersection point. Many scholars maintain that Maimone was an ancient divinity of rain among the earlier Sardinian inhabitants and later reinterpreted by Phoenicians. In fact, the root “Maim’o” means water in Phoenician, whereas it indicates a demon, a monster and the longing for money in Hebrew. The sculpture over the fountain probably represents the male personification of water. It probably dates back to 1700. In fact, an ancient custom, certainly of pre-Christian origin, invokes Maimone in situations of dry years. In Aidomaggiore, young men helped by adults created a sort of stretcher formed by two crossed reeds: a wreath of plants of periwinkle was put in the middle. This mock up, representing the divinity of rain (Maimone), was carried around the streets of the town. The crowd of young men sang:
Maimone Maimone
Abba cheret su laore
Abba cheret su siccau
Maimone laudau
Something interesting to notice is related to the plant used to decorate the Maimone, the periwinkle: in fact, this plant is called “Proinca” in the Sardinian language. This word is very similar to the verb “Prore”, that is “to rain”; “Proinca” could probably mean “plant that makes it rain”. This cult has certainly very old roots, dating back to the Nuragic period, when human sacrifices were made to invoke rain. Later, with the coming of Christianity, human sacrifices were replaced by the mock up of the divinity of rain that was believed to die when it was thrown away in the stream to give new life back. In the Canaan language, the word Maim (written Mam) meant, and still means in Hebrew, “water”. All around Libya and Barbary, “Amon” was the ram god of water; among Tuareg and Guanches of Canary Islands, “amon”, “aman” still means “water”. Su Maimoni is actually a rain divinity!