Rome is full of fountains, and this is one of the things that represent her the most. Big, small, hidden, in plain sight, decorated, basic; they all have their stories. There are more than 2.000 fountains in this city, but some of them stand out from the rest. Plus during the summer the free water of Rome is available in many nasoni fountain, and the water (perfectly potable) is, not to brag, the best. But here, I have collected the most curious fountains of Rome that are worth seeing.
- Fontana delle Tartarughe
Legends says that this fountain was made in one night by a man wanting to impress his future father in law. Originally this fountain didn’t have its turtles; they were added by Bernini later. This fountain is like a cake, it is layered. You find the dolphin at the base, then the men and as a cherry on top, the turtles.
- Fontana delle Rane
Gino Coppedè (the artist of this fountain, and where the name of the neighborhood homonym comes from) was inspired by Bernini. This fountain, instead of having turtles, it has big frogs; the neighborhood is worth a visit too.
- Fontana degli Artisti
In this street (Via Margutta), you can admire a very beautiful fountain, dedicated to the artists. Indeed, in this street you will see many art galleries, and since a long time, this is considered to be a fancy and artistic path, where mosaics and marbles are worked by artisans.
- Fontana della Botticella
In Rione Campo Marzio you can find a very interesting fountain, dedicated to the “facchini”, the people that would work at the Porto Ripetta, moving wine barrels and lumber. The head that spills water is, indeed, a facchino. We don’t know who created it, but it was commissioned by Pope Clemens, during the restoring of San Rocco Hospital.
- Fontana della Pigna
This fountai, called “Pignone”, right in front of the Altare della Patria, is one of the ten local fountains that needed to be substituted by the now famous nasoni, but thankfully we can still admire. Its name comes from the Rione Pigna. The pigna is also kind of a details that always make me think of Rome. Recently restored, this fountain is worth seeing.
- Fontana di Piazza del Catalone
The fountain we are talking about is part of the Rione Borgo Pio. During medieval times Borgo Pio was working like a small town with its school, its Church; and that’s why this fountain doesn’t look so fancy like the others we have in our city, it was used for needs; plus the water passing through this fountain is the oldest, called Acqua Marcia.
- Fontana delle Anfore
Situated in Testaccio, this fountain dedicated to the terracotta vases, is called like this because Testaccio was the neighbourhood where the deposit of wine and oil was (hence all the anfore). If we look at it, we can see how smart and unusual this fountain looks, with its many vases and a tiny faucet. In fact, it was one of the first fountains where you could drink from too.
- Fontana dei Libri
The book’s fountain, located in Rione Sant’Eustachio, was built in 1927 by Pietro Lombardi and honors the Università della Sapienza. The street, in fact, was called Via dell’Università, hence the books. In the middle you can find the head of a deer, which is the symbol of the Rione. Very cool to see.
- Fontana delle Api
Realised by Bernini, this fountain is located in the Rione Ludovisi (in between piazza Barberini and via Veneto), in 1644. It was built so that also the horses could drink out of it, Bernini put the bee, which was the symbol of the Barberini family that commissioned the fountain.
- Fontana della Botte
Located in Trastevere, this fountain is dedicated to the wine that was and still is flowing, in all of the osterie and trattorie of the neighbourhood. On the side, in fact, you can find two vases representing the wine. Very cute.
roman gal goes around 