Fontana di Trevi

Do you know the history of the most famous fountain in Italy? In 19 B.C. the Emperor Augustus commissioned the architect Marco Vispanio Agrippa to build the Aqua Virgo, terminal of the aqueduct that fed the Roman baths with the waters of the river Aniene. This, until the Middle Ages, was located on the Quirinal hill, and it was just then that in the middle of this complex was built a fountain, with three large mouths that poured water into as many tanks. 1410 gives us the first sketch of what will later become the current Trevi Fountain. In 1453 the three tanks were united in a single large rectangular basin by order of Pope Nicholas V. From here on, the famous fountain was the subject of works commissioned by great Popes, who fascinated by its beauty, decided to take care of this artistic heritage. In 1570 it was the turn of Pope Pius V, who initiated one of the largest restorations that involved this monument at the time. In the following years Piazza di Trevi underwent several changes, and it was only in 1731 that the fountain was mentioned again, when Pope Clement XII entrusted himself to the expert hands of Nicola Salvi for the construction of a large "water exhibition" that told the story of the Aqueduct of Virgin Water with a single architectural work. So, in 1732 began the work, which were long and very expensive, not only because of the size of the work, but also because between the Pope and the architect did not miss the misunderstandings that greatly slowed down the work. For this reason the Trevi Fountain was inaugurated twice: the first in 1735 by an impatient Pope Clement XII, the second in works completed by Pope Clement XIII, that is in 1762. Four large statues of 1735 adorn the building itself and symbolize, starting from the left, the Abundance of the fruits by Agostino Corsini, the Fertility of the fields by Bernardo Ludovisi, the Gifts of autumn by Francesco Queirolo and the Amenity of the meadows by Bartolomeo Pincellotti. In the great central niche there is the majestic statue of Ocean that is driving a chariot shaped like a large shell, pulled by two winged sea horses, one angry and the other peaceful, conducted by a young newt and a mature one that symbolize the different characteristics of nature and human ages. The lateral parts of the large niche exhibit the statues of Salubrity and Abundance by Filippo Della Valle, and the reliefs depicting the Virgin showing the spring to the soldiers by Grossi, and Agrippa agreeing to the construction of the aqueduct of Bergondi.