The Manneken-Pis is a bronze statue of a puer minges, about fifty centimeters high, located in the historic center of Brussels. This statue is the symbol of the independence of spirit of the inhabitants of Brussels. It is a fountain that represents a child who is urinating. The words MannekenPis in Brussels (Flemish dialect close to Dutch) mean little boy who pees.
Manneken Pis has become, with the Grand Square and the Atomium (large steel sculpture of a unit cell of an iron crystal), one of the symbols of Brussels. Palladio-Pis, on the other hand, is a vision that appears from one of the intercolumns of the portico of the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza on the West - South West side (Soprana watchmaking - in front of the Sorarù pastry shop), when it rains heavily. This "discovery" was made in the 1950s by some "boys from the rubble" of the historic center when they played in the arcades of Piazzetta Palladio on rainy days. At first it was a joking secret which then, like all secrets, also spread to the rest of the city with guided tours by the "centraioli" given the difficulty of understanding and identifying the right intercolumniation. After the 1960s, with the economic boom, the historic center depopulated towards the dormitory areas of the city and today few remember Palladio and Pis on rainy days. Enrico Rossi