Draghi Verdi: Milan drinking fountains map

Scope: Comune di Milano: free public drinking water for residents and visitors. Verified against MM and Comune sources.

What they are

Vedovelle ("little widows"): for the continuous trickle of water. Draghi verdi ("green dragons"): for the dragon-shaped brass spout and green cast-iron body. Metropolitana Milanese (MM) maintains them as part of the public water network (MM: Vedovelle).

Installed from 1890, the standard fountain is cast iron, about 1.55 m tall (Comune) with Milan's coat of arms and a pinecone finial (pignone). The dragon spout echoes the Visconti symbol on the Duomo gargoyles. A semi-circular trough at the base was originally for watering animals. The water is the same potable supply as household taps (MM).

How many, and where

Counts differ by source and date: all are official but updated on different schedules:

Source	Count	Notes
DS502 open data (13 September 2026)	721	Weekly GeoJSON: basis for the map below
MM: Vedovelle	666	MM prose page (in operation)
Comune story map	674	Published February 2025

Fountains are spread across all nine municipi; Municipio 8 has the most (Comune story map). Two stand out from the standard green cast-iron design: the bronze fountain in Piazza della Scala (first installed in 1931), and the artistic bronze dragons in City Life park by Serena Vestrucci (Comune story map).

Maps

The interactive fountain map lives on our Milan maps page: inside the Maps section with other official city maps (transport, Area C, pharmacies, recycling).

Open draghi verdi map

Find the nearest fountain

Tool	Best for
Milan maps: embedded DS502 map	Browse all vedovelle; jump to Google Maps from any pin
latuaacqua.it: address search	Nearest vedovella and Case dell'acqua to a street address (MM official)
App MM La Tua Acqua	Geolocation on phone: vedovelle and Case dell'acqua (iOS / Android, MM)
Comune Portale del Dato story map	City-wide overview, municipio breakdown, City Life artistic fountains

Google Maps: what works (and what does not)

There is no official Google Maps layer from Comune di Milano or MM for vedovelle. Google Maps also has no built-in "drinking water" map filter in Italy, unlike cycling or transit layers (Google Maps help docs). A few individual fountains may appear as user-added pins, but coverage is incomplete and not maintained by the city.

Practical ways to use Google Maps anyway:

Navigate to coordinates: from a pin on this map (popup link), or paste latitude,longitude into Google Maps search. Google supports coordinate search directly.
My Maps (DIY layer): Comune publishes a downloadable CSV on the story map page; DS502 GeoJSON is updated weekly. Import into Google My Maps to overlay all fountains on Google's base map. This is unofficial but works; data freshness depends on your import, not Google.
Do not rely on generic searches like "drinking water near me", results mix restaurants, shops, and unrelated POIs.

Third-party apps (e.g. community maps built on OpenStreetMap) may list fountains, but for Milan the authoritative locations are MM and DS502: not crowd-sourced copies.

Case dell'acqua (different from vedovelle)

Separate from street fountains: refrigerated Case dell'acqua stations dispense still and sparkling tap water. The Comune lists 52 locations in open data (DS625); MM communications sometimes cite ~54 as the network grows (Comune: Case dell'acqua).

	Vedovelle	Case dell'acqua
Water	Still, ambient temperature	Still + sparkling, refrigerated (Comune)
Access	Walk up: no card	Free with Carta Regionale/Nazionale dei Servizi or tessera sanitaria (Comune)
Find them	DS502 / map above	latuaacqua.it address search or MM app; DS625 map or open data

Why there is no on/off tap

MM explains that continuous flow is intentional, not waste (MM: Vedovelle FAQ table):

All fountains together use about 10 L/s vs ~7,500 L/s for the whole aqueduct: a tiny fraction.
Flow keeps water moving at "dead-end" pipe branches (teste morte), venting air pockets and limiting bacterial growth around the spout.
Run-off enters the sewer network and is treated at Milan's plants; MM states treated water is reused (e.g. agricultural irrigation south of the city).

Practical tips

Water is drinking quality: same aqueduct as home taps (MM).
Bring a bottle; the stream is thin, cup your hand or use a narrow-neck bottle.
Flow runs 24/7: useful in summer heat when shops are closed.
For chilled still/sparkling water and larger fills, find a Case dell'acqua (tessera sanitaria required).
Vedovelle are for drinking in Milan: they are not a travel document or substitute for carrying water on long trips outside the city.

Quick checklist

✅ Reusable bottle (narrow neck helps)
✅ Use our map, MM app, or latuaacqua.it for nearest fountain
✅ Tap a map pin → Open in Google Maps for walking directions
✅ Tessera sanitaria if you want Case dell'acqua (still/sparkling)
✅ Expect continuous flow: no tap to turn off

Official links

Resource	URL
MM: Vedovelle (history, FAQ, count)	latuaacqua.it: Vedovelle
MM: find by address (vedovelle + Case dell'acqua)	latuaacqua.it: address search
MM mobile app	App MM La Tua Acqua
Comune: Case dell'acqua	comune.milano.it: Case dell'acqua
Comune: story map & stats	Portale del Dato: fontanelle di Milano
Open data: vedovelle (DS502, weekly)	dati.comune.milano.it: DS502
Open data: Case dell'acqua (DS625)	dati.comune.milano.it: DS625
Google My Maps (create your own layer)	google.com/maps/d