Introduction
Sixteen mechanical creatures splash and creak above an underground music laboratory, which is exactly the kind of sentence that makes the Stravinsky Fountain worth seeking out in Paris, France. On Place Igor-Stravinsky, a few steps from the Centre Pompidou, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint-Phalle turned public art into street theater: black wheels clatter, bright lips grin, water snaps in the air. Come for the color. Stay for the strange idea underneath it all.
Documented city records describe a 580-square-meter basin, about the footprint of two tennis courts laid side by side, holding 16 moving sculptures inspired by Igor Stravinsky's music. You don't just look at this fountain. You hear it first: motors whirring, jets striking water, children laughing at machines that seem half alive.
Most visitors read it as a playful square beside Beaubourg. The better reading is more Parisian and more interesting: the fountain is a thin, engineered skin over IRCAM, Pierre Boulez's research institute for music and sound, buried directly below the paving stones.
That makes the place a sharp introduction to Paris. High culture above ground, higher theory below it, and a fountain in the middle making fun of the idea that serious art must keep a straight face.
What to See
The 16 Moving Sculptures
The surprise is how playful this fountain still feels, even in Paris, a city that usually prefers its public art with a straight face. Opened in 1983 on Place Igor-Stravinsky, the basin stretches 33 meters by 17 meters, about the size of two city buses laid end to end with room left to breathe, while 16 mechanized sculptures by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle jerk, spin, spray, and preen to the memory of Igor Stravinsky’s music.
Stand there for a minute and your eyes split in two directions: toward Tinguely’s black metal contraptions, all clatter and mischief, and toward Saint Phalle’s bright figures, glossy as sweets under water and light. You hear the hiss of jets, the slap of water, the low street murmur from Beaubourg, and you realize this isn’t decoration at all; it is a small argument about what modern Paris should sound like.
The Edge of the Basin and the Saint-Merri View
Most people watch the fountain from the middle of the square and miss the better angle, which is along the basin’s edge where the reflections flatten the water into a trembling mirror. From there, the black machinery reads clearly in daylight, Saint Phalle’s colors flare against the surface, and Saint-Merri’s older stone mass just beyond the square reminds you how rude this fountain once looked in the best possible way.
Come again after dark if you can. Night changes the balance: the color fields punch harder, the mechanisms recede into silhouette, and the whole thing feels less like a plaza ornament than a stage set somebody forgot to turn off.
A Short Beaubourg Loop
Pair the fountain with a slow lap around the square instead of treating it as a quick photo stop on your way through Paris. Start at the west wall for the murals and the large Invader mosaic, cut back toward the water, then circle to the café side on the east where the square’s noise, spray, and people-watching make more sense of the place than any plaque could.
One more secret sits under your feet. The site is tied to IRCAM and the broader Beaubourg experiment, so this cheerful basin of resin, metal, and water is literally perched over one of Paris’s most serious centers for sound research; the joke, if you like dry Parisian jokes, is that Stravinsky ended up with both a fountain and a laboratory.
Photo Gallery
Explore Stravinsky Fountain in Pictures
The vibrant Stravinsky Fountain sits in a public square in Paris, framed by the industrial-style Centre Pompidou and bustling outdoor cafe seating.
ChrisSampson87 · cc by-sa 4.0
An elevated view of the artistic Stravinsky Fountain plaza in Paris, set against the backdrop of the historic Saint-Merri church with its vibrant, illuminated stained glass windows.
Yann Caradec from Paris, France · cc by-sa 2.0
The vibrant Stravinsky Fountain in Paris features playful, kinetic sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely set against the industrial architecture of the Centre Pompidou.
ChrisSampson87 · cc by-sa 4.0
An elevated view of the playful Stravinsky Fountain in Paris, set against a backdrop of historic Gothic architecture and modern urban buildings.
Cristian Bortes from Cluj-Napoca, Romania · cc by 2.0
The whimsical Stravinsky Fountain sits in a vibrant public square in Paris, framed by the historic Gothic architecture of the Church of Saint-Merri.
Shadowgate from Novara, ITALY · cc by 2.0
The whimsical Stravinsky Fountain sits in a reflecting pool against the backdrop of a historic Gothic church in Paris, France.
This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright protection. It may only be used according to the rules mentioned here. This specifically excludes use in social media, if applicable terms of the licenses listed here not appropriate. Please do not upload an updated image here without consultation with the Author. The author would like to make corrections only at his own source. This ensures that the changes are preserved.Please if you think that any changes should be required, please inform the author.Otherwise you can upload a new image with a new name. Please use one of the templates derivative or extract. · cc by-sa 3.0
The playful, modern sculptures of the Stravinsky Fountain contrast with the historic Gothic facade of the Church of Saint-Merri in central Paris.
mertxe iturrioz · cc by-sa 2.0
A view of Stravinsky Fountain, Paris, France.
ChrisSampson87 · cc by-sa 4.0
The colorful, whimsical sculptures of the Stravinsky Fountain stand in a quiet public square in Paris, framed by historic architecture and the Church of Saint-Merri.
Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia · cc by 2.0
Visitors enjoy a sunny day at the playful Stravinsky Fountain, set against the backdrop of historic Parisian architecture.
Luboš Holič · cc by-sa 3.0
The vibrant Stravinsky Fountain, adorned with kinetic sculptures, stands in stark contrast to the historic Gothic facade of the Church of Saint-Merri in Paris.
AlfvanBeem · cc0
Stand with the basin behind you and look at the wall along Place Igor-Stravinsky. Many visitors miss that the fountain's visual world continues there, with Jef Aerosol's "Chuuuttt" mural and small Invader mosaics folded into the square's daily scenery.
Visitor Logistics
Getting There
The fountain sits on Place Igor-Stravinsky beside Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement. Rambuteau on Metro line 11 is the cleanest approach at about 3 minutes on foot; Hôtel de Ville and Châtelet are closer to 4 to 6 minutes, with RER A, B, and D feeding into Châtelet-Les Halles. If you drive, the nearest referenced parking garages are Baudoyer at 94 Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville and Rivoli-Sébastopol near Rue Pernelle.
Opening Hours
As of 2026, public access is listed as free and open 24 hours a day on the Paris tourism listing, including holidays. That describes the square, not a guaranteed water-show schedule, and no official seasonal closure notice is published. Maintenance still happens, so if you care about seeing all 16 sculptures spraying and moving, check the square on the day rather than assuming.
Time Needed
Give it 15 to 25 minutes if you want the fountain, a few photos, and a slow lap around the basin. Stay 45 to 75 minutes if you want to read the square properly, look at the Saint-Merri side, and catch the street-art wall nearby. Turn it into a 1.5 to 2.5 hour walk if you're folding it into a Beaubourg loop.
Accessibility
The fountain stands in an open public square at street level, which makes access easier than many older Paris sites. Official pages do not publish a fountain-specific accessibility sheet, so expect standard central-Paris paving and crowding rather than museum-style route guidance. If you are pairing it with Centre Pompidou or IRCAM facilities, check those venues separately for lifts, priority access, and event-specific mobility support.
Cost/Tickets
As of 2026, visiting the fountain costs nothing and requires no booking. No timed entry, audio guide, or skip-the-line product is offered for the square itself. Paid guided walks that pass through the area exist through Centre Pompidou channels, but those are tours, not admission tickets.
Tips for Visitors
Go Early
Come before 10 a.m. if you want the basin without a ring of phones around it. Morning light catches the painted machinery cleanly, and the black elements still read like wet lacquer instead of glare.
Photo Rules
Casual photography in the square is generally fine, but professional filming in Paris can require prior declaration or an AGATE permit. Drones are a bad idea here unless you have the proper French approvals; central Paris airspace is tightly controlled.
Watch Your Bag
This corner sits between major tourist flows and transit corridors, which is exactly where pickpockets like to work. Keep your phone away after you shoot, zip your bag, and do not set anything on the fountain edge while framing a photo.
Eat Nearby
Skip random terrace roulette and pick a place on purpose. Café Beaubourg works for coffee or a late stop, Crêperie Beaubourg is the reliable mid-range move for galettes and cider, and Le Brise Miche is useful when you want a seat facing the square without turning lunch into a project.
Read The Square
Do not treat this as a lonely fountain. Walk the perimeter and look at the conversation between the playful machines, Saint-Merri's older stone, and the street-art wall; the place makes more sense when you see old Paris needling modern Paris back. If you are building a longer Paris day, this is one of the better short stops between heavier museums.
Combine Smartly
Pair it with the exterior of Centre Pompidou and the square above IRCAM, both steps away rather than a separate detour. Since Pompidou's long renovation phase affects nearby services from 2025 onward, plan this as an outdoor art stop first and any museum add-on second.
Where to Eat
Don't Leave Without Trying
Kozy Pompidou | All-week Brunch | Coffee
cafeOrder: Start with their all-day brunch menu — croissants are laminated to perfection, and the coffee is seriously good. Locals rave about the avocado toast and fresh pastries.
This is where actual Parisians grab breakfast near Pompidou, not the tourist traps on Rue Beaubourg. With nearly 4,700 reviews and a 4.8 rating, it's the real deal — a proper neighborhood spot that happens to be steps from the fountain.
Barista Gallery
cafeOrder: Single-origin espresso drinks and their seasonal pastry selection. The baristas here actually know what they're doing — it's a working cafe, not Instagram theater.
Tucked on Rue Quincampoix in the heart of Le Marais, this is where serious coffee drinkers congregate. Nearly 500 reviews at 4.8 stars means consistency and care; it's the antidote to the Pompidou tourist circuit.
MY Fermentation
quick biteOrder: Their sourdough and naturally fermented breads are the draw here — each loaf is made with real technique. Grab a pain au levain or their daily specials; they're gone by afternoon.
Perfect 5.0 rating with 201 reviews speaks volumes: this is a serious bakery run by people who care about fermentation and flavor. It's the kind of place Parisians queue for, not a tourist spot.
4bar Et Cafe
local favoriteOrder: Grab a coffee during the day; come back for evening aperitifs. This is a neighborhood hangout where locals actually sit — no agenda, just good drinks and company.
Still under the radar with only 3 reviews but a perfect 5.0 rating, this is the kind of spot where you feel like a regular on your first visit. It's authentic, unpretentious, and exactly what the Marais needs more of.
Dining Tips
- check Walk 5–10 minutes into Le Marais proper for better value and authenticity — the immediate Pompidou area is tourist-heavy.
- check Marché des Enfants Rouges (Rue de Bretagne, ~10 min walk) is Paris's oldest covered market (since 1615) with hot food stalls offering Moroccan, Japanese, Italian, Lebanese, and French cuisine — open Tuesday–Sunday mornings.
- check Rue des Rosiers, a 5–7 minute walk from the fountain, is the heart of the historic Jewish quarter and famous for falafel stands and casual eats.
- check Rue Montorgueil (~10 min walk north) is one of Paris's liveliest pedestrian food streets — perfect for grab-and-go boulangeries, fromageries, and charcuteries.
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Historical Context
Machines, Music, and a Square With a Secret
The Stravinsky Fountain belongs to the late-20th-century moment when Paris decided culture should spill into the street instead of staying behind museum walls. Documented sources show the square above IRCAM was reshaped in the wake of the Centre Pompidou project, turning a technical roof into a public stage.
Documented sources confirm the fountain opened in 1983, though the exact day is less stable in the record than the year itself. That uncertainty suits the place. Even its origin story has a little spray and static in it.
Pierre Boulez Wanted Music to Change the Ground Beneath Paris
Pierre Boulez is the figure who makes this square make sense. For him, IRCAM was personal as well as institutional: after years of tension with the French cultural establishment, he had a chance to return to Paris and build the laboratory for contemporary music he had long imagined.
What stood at stake was more than prestige. If IRCAM failed, Boulez's wager that avant-garde music deserved a permanent home in the center of Paris would look like expensive vanity, buried beside the new museum and ignored by the city above.
The turning point came when the bare roof over the underground complex stopped being treated as leftover urban surface and became Place Igor-Stravinsky, then a fountain in 1983. With Jacques Chirac backing the commission and Boulez proposing Stravinsky's name for the square, the site changed from infrastructure into public performance: music below, water and moving sculpture above.
A Fountain Built Light on Purpose
Most people miss the engineering compromise because the colors distract them. Documented municipal sources explain that the basin had to stay shallow and relatively light because it sits over subterranean institutional structures; the whole fountain is less a decorative pool than a carefully balanced lid, thin enough to rest above research rooms and strong enough to carry a daily crowd.
Tinguely in Black, Saint-Phalle in Color
Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint-Phalle split the visual argument between them, and the contrast still does the work. Documented accounts describe 16 sculptures whose forms answer Stravinsky's music: Tinguely's dark mechanical pieces look skeletal and noisy, while Saint-Phalle's painted figures push back with carnival color, especially after dusk when the black shapes recede and the bright ones seem to float on the water.
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Frequently Asked
Is Stravinsky Fountain worth visiting? add
Yes, if you like public art with some nerve. The fountain opened in 1983 with 16 mechanized sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, all splashing and twitching in a 580-square-meter basin about the size of two tennis courts laid side by side. Give it 20 minutes and watch how the black metal pieces behave like stage machinery while the colored figures steal the light.
How long do you need at Stravinsky Fountain? add
Most people need 15 to 25 minutes for the fountain itself. Stay 45 to 75 minutes if you want the full square: the murals on Place Igor-Stravinsky, the view toward Saint-Merri, and the Beaubourg context beside the Paris cultural district. After dark, the place changes character, so a second short stop later in the day actually makes sense.
How do I get to Stravinsky Fountain from Paris? add
The easiest route is Metro line 11 to Rambuteau or Hôtel de Ville, then a short walk. Châtelet-Les Halles works too if you are coming by RER A, B, or D, and from there the square is only a few minutes on foot through the Beaubourg streets. Use Place Igor-Stravinsky, near Rue Brisemiche, as your map point.
What is the best time to visit Stravinsky Fountain? add
Late afternoon into evening is the sweet spot. Daylight lets you read the mechanics, then artificial light pushes Niki de Saint Phalle's colors forward and the black Tinguely forms start to recede, which makes the same fountain feel like a second work. If you want fewer people in your photos, go early in the morning.
Can you visit Stravinsky Fountain for free? add
Yes, the square and fountain are free to visit. Public-facing tourism listings describe access as open 24 hours, though fountain activity can vary with weather, temperature, wind, and maintenance after the 2023 restoration. You do not need a ticket unless you are booking a separate guided walk or an IRCAM program.
What should I not miss at Stravinsky Fountain? add
Do not miss the contrast that makes the whole thing work: Tinguely's black mechanical pieces against Saint Phalle's bright resin forms, all named for Igor Stravinsky's music. Walk the edge slowly and look for the Firebird, then turn toward the square's mural wall and remember that the basin sits above IRCAM infrastructure, so this playful fountain is literally built on experimental music. If you have time, add IRCAM's free 'Ircam Circus' audio walk for a version of the place that speaks back.
Sources
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verified
Ville de Paris
Official city profile with history, dimensions, artists, sculpture names, restoration summary, and urban context.
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Ville de Paris
Official restoration page with confirmed reopening date of November 7, 2023, restoration budget, and hydraulic and mechanical details.
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Centre Pompidou
Institutional article on the square, the fountain's artistic logic, night-versus-day effect, and surrounding murals.
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Paris je t'aime
Tourism listing used for access, free entry, and public-facing opening-hours information.
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Ministère de la Culture POP Mérimée
Heritage notice used for Centre Pompidou and IRCAM urban-history context and the broader Beaubourg project timeline.
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Wikidata
Identification cross-check for the fountain and place record.
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Paris Capitale
Secondary cultural write-up used for local perception and descriptive context.
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France Hebdo
Press coverage of the reopening after restoration and references to the fountain's earlier inauguration date.
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Wikipedia
Secondary reference used cautiously for the unconfirmed March 16, 1983 inauguration date and general context.
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Mairie de Paris Centre
District-level municipal update on restoration timing, reopening, and budget phrasing.
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Centre Pompidou
Institutional article used for IRCAM history beneath the square and the site's structural constraints.
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Tripadvisor
Crowdsourced visitor impressions used cautiously for practical expectations, timing, and anecdotal operational notes.
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Centre Pompidou
Official renovation project page used for nearby Beaubourg works context after 2025.
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IRCAM
Official transport and access information for the area around Place Igor-Stravinsky and IRCAM.
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Centre Pompidou
Official accessibility guidance for the surrounding Centre Pompidou district and transport approach.
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RATP
Regional transport accessibility guidance for wheelchair users reaching the area.
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Paris je t'aime
Nearby restaurant listing used for practical food and rest-stop context beside the fountain.
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Centre Pompidou
Official practical information used for nearby toilets, cloakroom, and visitor facilities context.
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Tripadvisor
Crowdsourced place page used for square-level atmosphere, murals, and walking impressions.
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Atlas Obscura
Secondary descriptive source used for sensory details, wading intent, and visual character.
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IRCAM
Official page for the free headphone experience tied directly to the fountain and square.
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GetYourGuide
Third-party tours page used only as evidence that the fountain appears on guided walking itineraries.
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Audiala
Existing Audiala page referenced in research as a comparative tourism listing.
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Gazette Drouot
Press source corroborating the 2023 restoration and reopening.
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Boing Boing
Secondary report confirming the fountain's return to operation after restoration.
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Télérama
Cultural source used for the square's street-art layer and mural chronology.
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Ville de Paris
City events page showing guided urban-art visits that include the area.
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Ville de Paris
City events page for Centre Pompidou-related urban visits in the district.
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Centre Pompidou
Official event page used for current cultural programming connected to the Place Igor-Stravinsky address.
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Centre Pompidou
Official event page documenting past public programming at IRCAM and the square.
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Agendamilitant
Archival listing used only as evidence that the square has hosted civic gatherings.
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Wikipedia
Secondary reference for location and square-level context.
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Condé Nast Traveler
Secondary neighborhood source used for wider food-history framing around Les Halles.
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Resto A Paris
Restaurant listing used for nearby budget-to-midrange dining context.
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Café Beaubourg
Official site used for nearby café option and terrace context.
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Café Beaubourg
Official page used for breakfast pricing and practical food information.
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Crêperie Beaubourg
Official restaurant site used for nearby Breton-style dining context.
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Beaumarly
Official closure notice used to flag that the long-standing Pompidou rooftop restaurant is no longer operating.
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Centre Pompidou
Official practical information used for photography restrictions inside the museum and general visitor rules nearby.
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Paroisse Saint-Merry
Official parish site used for nearby church context and behavior expectations if entering Saint-Merri.
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Ville de Paris
Official city guidance on public photography rights in Paris.
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Ville de Paris
Official city guidance on filming permits for professional shoots in Paris.
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Ville de Paris
Official city page with permitting details for equipment-heavy filming and drone-related production.
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Service-Public.fr
French government page used for national drone-law context.
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RATP
Official transport safety advice used for pickpocket-risk guidance in crowded transit corridors.
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City-Paris.fr
Public safety guidance used for general scam and theft awareness relevant to this central tourist area.
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Paris Photo Guide
Secondary guide used for the local nickname Fontaine des Automates.
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Tripadvisor
Older visitor review page used for anecdotal local gripes and reception.
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Centre Pompidou
Official event page used for the paid guided walk distinction versus free public access to the fountain.
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Centre Pompidou
English-language institutional version of the square article used for local-culture framing and mural context.
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Wikiwand
Secondary location summary used alongside safety guidance to frame transit proximity and crowd conditions.
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