The Fountains. A sip of Rome in 160 seconds

Rome boasts many fountains. One of the most beautiful is the “Trevi” fountain, which depicts Neptune, the god of the sea, riding a chariot drawn by sea horses and tritons. On his right there the statues of Fertility of the Fields and Abundance, and on his left the statue of the Wealth of Autumn. In 1731, Pope Clement XII commissioned a competition, hence the inscription “CLEMENS XII PONT MAX” in the centre of the fountain. The project was entrusted to Nicola Salvi and, after his death in 1751, Pietro Bracci and his son finished it in 1762. The fountain is fed by the Vergine Aqueduct (Acqua Virgo), the only Roman aqueduct that is still functional today.

There is a tradition of tossing a coin into the fountain, which could derive either from the ancient custom of offering objects to the Gods, or from the 1954 film “Three Coins in the Fountain”. The coins in the fountain are given to Caritas.

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The most spectacular fountain is in Piazza Navona: the “Fountain of the Four Rivers”. There is an obelisk in the centre, designed by Bernini between 1647 and 1651, which stands on a travertine base, surrounded by four allegorical figures representing the world’s greatest rivers: the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube, and the Rio de Plata, sculpted by different artists, which were supposed to represent global papal power.

There is an ominous legend behind all this magnificence. The fountain is also known as the Fountain of Lovers, and it is said that a witch who once lived in the square put a curse on all lovers: if they walk around the fountain counterclockwise, they will break up within 6 days.

The second fountain is the Fountain “of the Moor”, which is made of exquisite ancient marble and depicts a man emerging from a shell while wrestling with a dolphin. It was designed by Bernini but completed by Ludovico Rossi in 1654. Finally, the third and most recent one, the Fountain “of Neptune”, commissioned by Gregory XIII and designed and built by Giacomo Della Porta. It remained unfinished without statues for three centuries: they were added in the 19th century, and now we can marvel at Neptune wrestling an octopus, flanked by sea horses.

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In the centre of Piazza di Spagna, there is the “Barcaccia Fountain”, which was designed to be a cistern. In 1626, Pope Urban VIII commissioned Bernini to build it, but it was his son who finished it in 1629. Legend has it that the shape of the fountain was inspired by a boat that was carried there when the Tiber flooded in 1598.

It was the first fountain to be designed solely as a sculptural work. It depicts a boat about to sink and the overflowing water is collected in a basin under the sculpture.