8 Facts about the Trevi Fountain
| Rolling Rome
8 Interesting facts about the Trevi Fountain, Rome’s and perhaps the world’s most famous and iconic fountain.
- The Fountain The Trevi fountain is the biggest baroque fountain in the city of Rome and should not be missed by anyone visiting. Located in a tiny piazza in the heart of the city, this magnificent monument stands the massive 85 feet (26m.) height and 65 ft. (20m.) wide. With its water pumping out of many sources and the large pool in front, the Trevi spills about 2,824,800 cubic feet of water every day.
- Aqua Virgo At the sight of the fountain in 19 century BC was built an aqueduct (long canal) bringing water to the people of Rome, by the spring. The aqueduct was named after a young virgin (Aqua Virgo), who revealed the spring to the roman technicians, looking for a pure source of water. This aqueduct provided the population of Rome with fresh water for more than 400 years.
- Nicola Salvi and the birth of Trevi Repairs were made 18 century when originally Pope Urban ˅ǀǀ commissioned Bernini with the design of the fountain, but the Pope died and the project was stopped. Years later Pope Clement Xǀǀ, held a contest, which Alessandro Galilei (an architect from the same family as the famous astronomer Galileo), originally won. The commission for the project was later given to Nicola Salvi after a public outcry. The reason for the public’s objections was that Galilei was a Florentine, while Salvi was a native Roman. The design of Salvi won the contest not only for this, but it was also the cheapest one. The project was financed by the Roman Lotto. What is interesting is that it is made of the same material as Colosseum, travertine stone from river Tiber. During the construction a few man actually died because of these enormous stones. Salvi died 10 years before the completion of the fountain in 1762 and never saw his masterpiece.