This little golden coloured goat caught my eye whilst I was meandering around Lublin, leaning over a basin with a slightly quizzical expression. It’s a public drinking fountain at the junction of Krakowskie Przedmieście and Wróblewskiego, installed in 2001. The goat is one of Lublin’s symbols and appears on the city’s coat of arms, standing on its hind legs against a grapevine.
There’s a local legend involving a goat whose milk helped keep children alive after a Tatar raid, which seems a reasonable contribution to have recognised. The story then becomes a little more complicated, involving a drunken painter who muddled the design of the coat of arms. As explanations for municipal heraldry go, it’s rather more entertaining than a committee agreeing on a logo.
The initials on the front of the basin belong to MPWiK, the city’s water and sewerage company. It has also had a slightly more eventful life than might be expected of a stationary goat. In April 2023, it returned following repairs to a leg damaged when a car hit it. All rather sub-optimal.