Il Porcellino, as the Italians call him, means “the little pig”.
However the bronze porker fountain sitting at the side of the New Market, or Mercato Nuovo, is really a wild boar, or a cinghiale in Italian.
He supposedly brings good luck when visitors rub his snout and put a coin in his mouth.
If the water washes the coin from the pig’s mouth and it falls into the grate below, you will have good luck and you will be sure to return to Florence.
If not, try again.
The coins are used to support an orphanage.