Fountain sights in Rome
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Fontana dell’Acqua Paola
Just up from the Chiesa di San Pietro in Montorio, this monumental white fountain was built in 1612 to celebrate the restoration of a 2nd-century aqueduct that supplied (and still supplies) water from Lago di Bracciano, 35km to the north of Rome. Four of the fountain’s six pink-stone columns came from the façade of the old St Peter’s Basilica, while much of the marble was pillaged from the Roman Forum. The large granite basin was added by Carlo Fontana in 1690.
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Fontana delle Tartarughe
This playful 16th-century fountain depicts four boys gently hoisting tortoises up into a bowl of water. Apparently, Taddeo Landini created it in a single night in 1585 on behalf of the Duke of Mattei, who had gambled his fortune away and was on the verge of losing his fiancée. On seeing the fountain, Mattei’s father-in-law was so impressed that he relented and let Mattei marry his daughter. The tortoises were added by Bernini in 1658.
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