The world's oldest museum is in Innsbruck, Austria.
Because of its age the museum itself has become a museum artifact. The "chamber of arts and wonders", how it's called, is very special, absolutely worth a visit.
My favourite object in there is the crocodile. Back then in the 16th century they didn't really know what to do with it so they hung it upside down from the ceiling. Still today it's there in this awkward position.
From here, it's a short leap to using crocodiles to decorate the inside of canopies of drinking fountains as a homage to this millennia old tradition.
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As a result, when the creation of Cabinets of Curiosities started become fashionable amongst the educated and well-heeled in the 1600s, they would often include a crocodile hanging from the roof.
The Victorians, too, liked their cabinets of curiosities, and also Ancient Egypt (so much so that Alexander 'Greek' Thomson could just as easily be referred to as Alexander 'Egyptian' Thomson), so it made sense that they also followed this tradition.
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Here, a dead crocodile would often be hung over the entrance to a building or enclosure as a way to ward off evil (basically by showing evil that it had been vanquished).
This tradition was carried on long after Ancient Egypt fell, and was eventually brought to Europe by the Moors, where, once Spain had been liberated, stuffed crocodiles were hung upside down from the ceilings of churches, again to ward off evil.
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There are a series of public drinking fountains across Glasgow, like this one at Govan Cross, which have these cute little crocodiles set into their canopies. Why? Well, it seems to be part of a tradition which stretches back as far Ancient Egypt, where the Nile Crocodile was both feared and worshipped as a god.
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#glasgow #crododile #glasgowhistory #architecture #glasgowarchitecture #govan
Innsbruck Greeters
This Is My Glasgow