The Ross Fountain is a striking Victorian cast‑iron fountain in West Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, directly beneath Edinburgh Castle and widely photographed as part of one of the city’s most iconic views.The fountain stands in the lower, western section of Princes Street Gardens, facing north‑east towards the Castle Esplanade.
 
Designed by French sculptor Jean‑Baptiste Jules Klagmann and cast at the Antoine Durenne foundry in Sommevoire, the Ross Fountain is a Beaux‑Arts‑style piece of 19th‑century ironwork with more than 120 individual components.  The upper tiers feature four female figures symbolising science, the arts, poetry, and industry, while the lower basin includes mermaids, cherubs, lion heads, and other aquatic motifs, giving it a distinctly classical‑fantasy feel.
 
Edinburgh gunmaker Daniel Ross bought the fountain at the Great Exhibition in London in 1862 for £2,000, then gifted it to the city; it arrived in 122 pieces at Leith in 1869 and was installed in the gardens by 1872. 
 
Interesting facts...
We have all been there on Amazon, an impulse buy becomes a problem. The fountain was actually bought on impulse by Edinburgh gun‑maker Daniel Ross, but the city didn’t especially want it; it was seen as flashy, a bit risqué, and even a bit vulgar. For about a decade its 122 cast‑iron pieces sat in storage while the council argued over where to put it, and by the time it was installed in 1872 Ross had died and never saw it in situ.