Water shows during the day and colourful lights, water effects and music during the evening and at night. Spectacular shows of the Cosmopolis Fountain are one of the most popular attractions of Toruń, attracting crowds of residents and tourists in the season every day.
The Fountain was started up on 22 June 2008, in the square near the university's Harmonica building (today the square bears the name of Lucjan Broniewicz), at the edge of Toruń's Old Town. Its design had been prepared by a local artist, Zbigniew Mikielewicz and project documentation had been provided by the FORMA architectural studio from Warsaw, while the investment itself was realized by Gutkowski company from Leszno.
The Fountain refers to the famous work by Nicolaus Copernicus, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres". Its water surface is invisible, covered by granite plates with the inscribed Latin text and a model of the heliocentric system, known from the 8th page of this work. The rings – orbits of individual planets – carry 113 water nozzles, sprinkling water in combination with light effects. The nozzle that is located in the centre, where the Sun is, lets the water to be sprinkled up to 5m high, while the orbital nozzles – up to 4.5m. The Fountain is controlled electronically.
For the inauguration of the Toruń's fountain, a musical composition entitled "Cosmopolis" was composed by Krzesimir Dębski, famous Polish composer and film score creator. "Cosmopolis" was recorded by the musicians from the Toruń's Symphony Orchestra and the Astrolabium Choir of Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa. The setting of lights and water forms to the music was prepared by the light director Bogumił Palewicz, famous both in Poland and in the world.
In subsequent years the repertoire of the works comprising the background for the fountain shows has been expanding. Apart from "Cosmopolis", we may hear well-known film themes from "Love Story" and "Gladiator", as well as "Ode to Joy" (the show to this music was prepared in 2011, for the Polish Presidency of the EU). From August 2012, the Ode to Joy show was replaced by a show to the film music by Polish composer Michał Lorenc.
