Acquapendente rises on a tufaceous spur that slopes towards the valley of the river Paglia, with irregular shape, flowing into a particular funnel shape. The wealth of natural springs and watercourses, which have always plowed the place, is at the origin of the town’s name.

The Rivo torrent divides the entire town in two and along its course gives life to points of refreshment fed by its waters: the source of Rigombo and the fountain of Rugarella. The first, from the Latin recumbere, to rest, was the first service station entering from the door of the Holy Sepulcher, today called “dei Mascheroni”, for a project that put grotesque masks around the water canisters; the fountain of the Rugarella takes the name of the street in which it is located.

The two sources, equidistant from the Piazza del Comune, are in correspondence of the oldest urban layout of the Via Francigena, which from the northern gates of the city passed through the Malintoppa, the Rugarella, the main square, the ancient parish church of Santa Vittoria, until the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher and the Roman Gate.