Page 4 - Living Italy Issue 5

ARRIVEDERCI ROMA
By Our Itinerant Reporter
Has everything already been said about Rome? Perhaps the opposite is more likely
to be true Having thrown a coin into the Trevi Fountain, the city waves Arrivederci (goodbye until we meet again) drawing you back like
a magnet again and again to discover more Roma is feminine and romantic (Roma >> amoR or Love)
The article REFLECTIONS ON ROME WHERE PRESENT AND PAST INTERSECT took the reader on a journey through the centuries in our second issue. These re ections continue. This time the author is going to take you to see sights of the city from a di erent angle and chose some unusual themes, such as some or Rome’s fountains, which will be un- folded to the reader as he or she goes along
Walking around the city in Spring, one of
the best times of the year to go about un-
der blues skies and bearably warm weath-
er, makes one think of the birth of Rome According to historical records Rome was founded on 21st April 753 BC The story of how it was founded is entwined in myths and legends You are no doubt familiar with the Italian myth of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who were suckled by a she-wolf, and that Romulus named the settlement after himself It is amazing to see how this grew into ancient Rome with all is pomp and glory, and then into the living city we see today with all the bustle of modern tra c.
Every year, Rome celebrates Spring with
bright colours, hence the rst scene is Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps carpeted in a multi-colour spray of azaleas The steps host nearly 600 pots of these beautiful plants in bloom bringing the white stone to life
At the foot of the steps stands the Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Boat) Pope Urban Vlll commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a proj- ect to erect a fountain in every major square in the city It was completed between 1627 and1629 The fountain is made in the shape of a half-sunken boat with water over owing its sides into a small basin The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine aque- duct According to legend, water carried a small boat into Piazza di Spagna when the River Tiber ooded in 1598 leaving it in the centre of the square This incident inspired Bernini’s creation The fountain is decorated with Pope Urban Vlll Bernini family coat of arms
Fontana del Tritone (the Triton Fountain) by the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, son of Pietro, stands in Piazza Barberini a few minutes walk away This fountain was also commissioned by Pope Urban Vlll This time the source of water comes from the Acqua Felice aqueduct It was completed between 1642 and 1643, and was Bernini’s last ma-
jor commission from the patron, who died in 1644
Fontana di Trevi, the largest Baroque fountain in the city, was going to be another foun-
tain commissioned by Pope Urban Vlll, who asked Gian Lorenzo Bernini to prepare some sketches, but the project was abandoned when the pope died Although Bernini’s project was never built, the Trevi fountain has some Bernini touches The idea was resumed much later, in 1730 under Pope Clement Xll, who commissioned architect Nicola Salvi to design the fountain and start work on it in 1732 The project was completed by Pietro Bracci after Salvi’s death
Not to be forgotten is Fontana dei Quattro
Living Italy Past & Present 4