Page 4 - Living Italy Issue 5a

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 INTER- SECT 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 er- ent angle and chose some unusual themes, such as some or Rome’s foun- tains, which will be unfolded 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 under blues skies and bearably warm weather, makes one think of the birth of Rome According to histor- ical 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 Romu- lus 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-co- lour 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 Fon- tana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Boat) Pope Urban Vlll commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a project 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 aqueduct Accord- ing 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 foun- tain is decorated with Pope Urban Vlll Bernini family coat of arms
Fontana del Tritone (the Triton Foun- tain) by the Baroque sculptor Gian
Living Italy Past & Present 4