Romantic Fountains of Rome, Rome
Romantic Fountains of Rome
Guide Location: Italy » Rome
Guide Type: Self-guided city tour
# of Attractions: 6
Tour Duration: 2 hour(s)
Transportation Mode: by foot
Travel Distance: 2.6 km
Image Courtesy of Flickr and mhowry
Author: clare
Undoubtedly there is no city in the world with more fountains than Rome. Popular tourist attractions, the fountains of Rome are among the world's most imposing, spectacular and artistic. You will experience the unforgettable atmosphere on a Rome's romantic fountains tour.
Tour Stops and Attractions
Fontana della Barcaccia
1) Fontana della Barcaccia
Fontana della Barcaccia is a Baroque fresh-water fountain in Rome, Italy in the Piazza di Spagna, just below the Spanish Steps. It is so named because it is in the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its bows. The fountain was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and was completed in 1627 by Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The English poet John Keats could hear the sound of the fountain's water flowing soothingly from his deathbed. He said it reminded him of lines from the 17th-century play Philaster, or Love Lies a-Bleeding (1611) and was the source for his epitaph «Here lies one whose name was writ in water.»
Image Courtesy of Flickr and SowersPics
Triton Fountain
2) Triton Fountain
The Triton Fountain is a seventeenth century fountain in Rome, by the well-known Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Commissioned by his patron, Pope Urban VIII, the fountain is located in the Piazza Barberini, near the entrance to the Palazzo Barberini. The fountain was executed in travertine in 1642–43. At its centre rises an larger than lifesize muscular Triton, a minor sea god of ancient Greco-Roman legend, depicted as a merman kneeling on an opened scallop shell. His head is thrown back and his arms raise a conch to his lips; from it a jet of water spurts, formerly rising dramatically higher than it does today. The fountain has a base of four dolphins that entwine the papal tiara with crossed keys and the heraldic Barberini bees in their scaly tails.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and asw909
Trevi Fountain
3) Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy. Standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city. The fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie) marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. The Trevi Fountain was finished in 1762 by Giuseppe Pannini, who substituted the present allegories for planned sculptures of Agrippa and "Trivia", the Roman virgin. Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork, and filling the small square. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and ZeroOne
Fountain of Neptune
4) Fountain of Neptune
The Fontana del Nettuno ("Fountain of Neptune") is a fountain in Rome, Italy, located in the Piazza Navona. Its basin is designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1574. The fountain is completed in 1878 by Antonio Della Bitta, who placed the sculpture of Neptune and Gregorio Zappalà, who created the other sculptures. This was done to correct the lack of symmetry with La Fontana del Moro.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and ryarwood
Fountain of the Four Rivers
5) Fountain of the Four Rivers
The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or "Fountain of the Four Rivers" is a fountain in Rome, Italy, located in the Piazza Navona. It is a masterpiece of Gianlorenzo Bernini's, and emblematic of the dynamic and dramatic effects sought by high Baroque artists. It was erected in 1651 in front of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone. The four gods on the corners of the fountain represent the four major rivers of the world known at the time: the Nile, Danube, Ganges, and Plate. The design of each god figure has symbolic importance.The Ganges carries a long oar, representing the river's navigability. The Nile's head is draped with a loose piece of cloth, meaning that no one at that time knew exactly where the Nile's source was. The Danube touches the Papal coat of arms, since it is the large river closest to Rome. And the Río de la Plata is sitting on a pile of coins, a symbol of the riches America could offer to Europe.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and mhowry
Fontana del Moro
6) Fontana del Moro
La Fontana del Moro is a fountain located at the southern end of the Piazza Navona in Rome. It represents a Moor, or African (perhaps originally meant to be Neptune), standing in a conch shell, wrestling with a dolphin, surrounded by four Tritons. It is placed in a basin of rose-colored marble. The fountain was originally designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1575 with the dolphin and four Tritons. In 1653, the statue of the Moor, by Bernini, was added. In 1874, during a restoration of the fountain, the original statues were moved to the Villa Borghese and replaced with copies.
Image Courtesy of Flickr and Rafael Jiménez
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