The light source of the Praça do Império in Belém, centerpiece of the existing Garden in this square, of great artistic value and assets, was executed in 1940, during the conduct of the exhibition of the Portuguese World, by architect Cotinelli Telmo.
Designed as a spectacular fountain, consists of a walled quadrangular tank, to clear the waste, from which rises a large circular Bowl, decorated with a frieze, with the coats of all continental and overseas provinces of the Empire, carved in bas-relief, which alternate with the water spouts.
On this large bowl is a sophisticated system of pipes, composed of 568 nozzles and water outlet nozzles.
Complete this system, a central water jet reaches 30 meters high. Under the cups are also the stage lighting system, consisting of a set of rotating prisms, with colored glass, inside of which are the foci that projected light outwards, through glass skylights.
