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Discovering the Fountains of Rome

Did you know that Rome has 280 fountains?  When in Rome, you can’t help but notice the number of beautiful and artistic fountains co-existing with the ruins and unique attractions.  The fountains have been around since the ancient Roman times when water flowed freely from its aqueducts.  The sound of water flowing from the many fountains throughout the city was a soothing contrast to the traffic noise Rome is also famous for.

Rome colosseum image

These ubiquitous fountains were also attractions in themselves. We actually saw a few during the day and at night – some planned, some by chance.  Seeing fountains at night gave them an ethereal glow and when illuminated in the right areas looked completely different.  These were a few of our favorite fountains in Rome.

The Trevi Fountain or Fontana di Trevi is Italy’s largest and is one of the world’s most photographed and visited fountain. This ornate fountain was huge at 85 feet high and 65 feet across. It was completed in 1762 as a final part of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct.  The centerpiece is an impressive statue of Neptune, god of the sea, on a shell-shaped chariot from which the water flows out. The two statues beside Neptune represent Abundance and Health.

Rome Trevi Fountain image
I have longed to see the Trevi Fountain and settled for admiring the replica at Las Vegas’ Caesar’s Palace before this visit for many years.  Seeing this extraordinary work of art in person was an unforgettable and amazing experience.  It was too bad the crowd around the fountain didn’t seem to change during our visits in the morning and again late at night.  This was in late November a couple of years ago so I can imagine how crowded and difficult it is to take a decent picture in the summer months.

Rome Trevi Fountain at night
The Italian tradition/legend says that if you toss coins into the fountain over your shoulder, it will ensure your safe return to Rome someday. There was no mention of how much to throw in or if throwing more coins increases your chances or gets you back sooner.

You can bet we threw coins in to help us return to the Eternal City.  In fact, we threw in coins again during our nighttime visit just to be sure.  It was estimated by BBC News in 2006 that about 3000 euros were tossed into the fountain each day.  These are swept off and collected daily and donated to an Italian charity.

trevi fountain coin toss
After staying at the fountain for awhile, people watching became entertaining.  It was amusing to see how visitors posed, to watch the men hustling to take tourist pictures and producing instantaneous souvenirs and to observe the various ways people toss the coins. Try it the next time you visit and you’d be surprised with this bit of diversion.

Trevi fountain sideview
Piazza Navona’s Fountains
Piazza Navona is one of Rome’s most popular city squares, surrounded by many cafes and restaurants.  It was lively and filled with tourists, musicians, hawkers and artists and the sound of water flowing from the fantastic fountains provided nice background noise.

rome piazza navona
The main attraction and largest is the Four Rivers Fountain (Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi) created by famed Italian artist/sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.  The four figures depict a river from each continent known at that time – the Danube, the Nile, Ganges and the Rio della Plata.  A tall obelisk rises in the middle of the statues.

Piazza Navona Four Rivers fountain

This was such a splendid masterpiece it had to be seen during day and night. It was amazing how water flowed from so many places within the sculptures. This particular fountain appeared to be more vibrant at night despite having less people around it.

Piazza Navona - Four Rivers fountain nighttime
Both fountains on each end of the piazza were designed by Giacomo della Porta.  The Neptune Fountain (Fontana di Nettuno) was located at the northern end. This fountain showed the sea god fighting an octopus and surrounded by sea horses and sea nymphs. I’m sure there’s an interesting story and meaning to these statues.

Piazza Navona fountain Neptune night
One advantage of seeing the fountains during the day is discovering the details you don’t clearly see at night.  The lighting in the piazza was a little low so it was wonderful to see them in all their glory during the day despite not getting an unobstructed view of the fountains.

Piazza Navona Neptune day

The piazza’s southern end had the Moor Fountain (Fontana del Moro) which was built in 1575.  The rose marble basin is the foundation for four Triton (sea gods/merman) statues.

Piazza Navona Moor fountain day
The central statue of an imposing Triton riding a dolphin which resembled a Moor was carved by Bernini in 1654 and looked more mysterious at night.  There was a different atmosphere coming here at night and was perfect for a pleasant evening stroll.
Piazza navona Moor Fountain night

The Spanish Steps
Rome’s famous Spanish Steps is one of the most popular gathering places in the city for locals and tourists.  While we were there early in the morning, no one was sitting on the 137 steps.  It was quite a contrast to the many pictures we had seen where the stairs were barely visible with the crowd of people sitting on it.  The steps connect the French church of Trinità dei Monti at the top to the Spanish square (Piazza di Spagna) below.

Rome Spanish Steps fountain

At the foot of the steps is the modest looking Fountain of the Old Boat/Leaking Boat (Fontana della Barcaccia) designed by the famed Bernini’s father. It looked like a ship sinking halfway and wasn’t as lavish as the other fountains around the city.  The inspiration for the fountain is believed to come from a small boat that remained after it washed into the area from a flood in 1598.  We decided to skip a night visit on this one.

Rome Spanish Steps fountain Fontana della Barcaccia

Some tourist attractions can also overshadow a nearby fountain.  The Fountain of the Pantheon was located in the middle of a piazza in front of the famous Pantheon.  The obelisk of Ramses II rises from the middle of the fountain with four dolphins around the base.  This was one of  the many obelisks found around Rome.  Rome also happens to have the most obelisks anywhere in the world.  We were so focused on entering the Pantheon we missed this big fountain the first time.

Rome Pantheon fountain
We occasionally stumbled on to fountains and thought they were interesting not knowing its significance until later.  This was Triton Fountain (Tritone) one of Bernini’s mastepiece in Piazza Barberini.  It was a lifesize Triton raising a conch shell and kneeling on dolphin’s tails.

Rome Triton fountain
The Vatican
Vatican City, home to the Pope, is the smallest independent state in the world located within Rome’s city limits.  A visit to Rome seems incomplete without exploring St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel within the city’s walls.  Two fountains adorn each side of St. Peter’s Square in front of the Basilica – the Maderno and the Bernini.  For some reason, we only have close-up pictures of the Bernini.  The Maderno is the older one and Bernini designed his to resemble it.

vatican bernini fountain

These pictures below have always been a couple of my favorites from Italy.  They were taken after attending evening mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, and the square was practically empty.  It was such a contrast to the massive crowd earlier in the day.  The fountains were glowing and was a stark reminder that some attractions were worth returning to at night.

Vatican bernini fountain night
Rome’s fountains are as part of the city as its ancient wonders and churches.  They have artistic value, are decorative and enhance the many squares around the city.  Many were wonderful tourist attractions with a few of them worth visiting during the day to see its creative features and under the glow of the moonlight.  It was amazing to see how revered these fountains were unlike many places we’ve visited.  Our kids weren’t with us during this visit so we hope those Trevi Fountain coins work their magic soon so we can return and show them these magnificent fountains too.

St Peter's Basilica night image

 *Have you visited any of these Roman fountains?  Do you prefer the daytime or nighttime shots of these fountains?

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Fountains of Rome

41 thoughts on “Discovering the Fountains of Rome”

  1. Beautiful photos, Mary. I remember some of these from my visit to Rome back in 1995…all to brief. Your night shots of the Vatican are spectacular. I was only there during the day, and would love to view it at night sometime.

  2. So many fountains by so many famous artists….Rome is the ultimate art gallery! I loved your night shots of the fountains. I found that the best way to enjoy the Trevi Fountain was in the early morning before the crowds arrived. I hope the coins you threw in the fountain work their magic and you return very soon!

    1. Thanks Jenny! The nightshots were my favorite too especially the Trevi. We were at Trevi in the morning but not early enough for the crowds. we hope those coins work soon too because my daughter wants to visit Rome desperately.

  3. What great photos! I also love looking at fountains. I usually have to be dragged away from them by impatient family members.

    1. Thanks Margaret! My family feels the same way :) My husband didn’t understand why I had to stop at every fountain we passed by in Rome to admire it.

  4. I love love Rome’s fountains! I wrote a similar post–10 Most Beautiful Fountains in Rome. It’s just too bad I didn’t get to some of the ones you listed here like the Four Rivers Fountain. Never went to the Trevi at night though so I was using Couchsurfing and my host liked to cook me authentic Italian dinner every night. So miss Europe!

    1. I remember your Rome fountains post which probably planted this in my head. Lucky you to have some homemade Italian food. Trevi needs to be seen at night and yes, you have to go see the fountains at Piazza Navona since you love fountains too.

    1. Thanks Tracy! Some were definitely worth returning to during the night. I know…I had to make sure it was that much and I read it on two different sources. It sounds about right considering the number of people there at all hours of the day.

  5. When I was in Rome I don’t think I was of an age to appreciate the architecture nor do I remember paying one iota of attention to the fountains. Someday I will have to remedy that. This is a great post and I love the way you’ve done night and day photos. I really like The Fountain of the Old Boat.

    1. Thank you Leigh! I hope we get to bring the kids at an age to remember the fountains. You must have been having too much fun for other things not to notice the fountains.

  6. Love all of your photos! The fountains were one of our favourite parts of Rome as well – Emma is incapable of walking past any fountain as she loves them so much. In fact, I thought that she was going to go headfirst into one in Piazza Navona because she was up on the edge and leaning over playing in the water! :) I tried to take photos of some of the fountains at night but they didn’t turn out very well – yours are beautiful!

    1. Thanks Lisa! My husband has the talent and patience to set up the night time photos. I’m sure my kids would act exactly like Emma and play with the water.

  7. Seeing the Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi at night was a great experience! The fountain looked just as beautiful as your picture. The whole lively atmosphere of Piazza Navona at night just added to the experience. Great article!

  8. The one time I was in Rome was as part of those whirlwind see Europe in 17 days tours. We just drove by all these places on the bus but didn’t get out except at the Vatican. Thanks for giving me a slower tour!

    1. That’s one of the reasons we gave up on those escorted tours and prefer to do a lot of walking. I hope you return with the kids to Rome for a slower tour.

  9. No, I didn’t know that Rome had so many fountains. I’ve only seen the Caesar’s Palace version of the Trevi Fountain — sadly.:( I’ve about the crowds being large there most of the time, but I still want to see it. Very cool photos and good information.

  10. Wow that many fountains? That is incredible – and I love how you have pics of them both at night and during the day!! So great!!

    I’m sorry I’m just now getting over to visit – I was out of commission the past 2 days! Thanks for linking up!!

  11. I’m always attracted to fountains, and to water in general. Rome’s fountains are amazing, I could stay hours watching the smallest details in Fontana di Trevi.

  12. Fantastic post! I don’t know if it would have occurred to me to return to the same fountains at night, during a more uncrowded time… what a wonderful idea.

    We have not seen any Roman fountains yet, but hope to next year for the 1st time. Planning my Italy trip now, and was debating about whether to include Rome. You just tipped the scales! THANKS! :)

    1. Thanks! How exciting to plan an Italy trip, Tami! You should definitely include Rome. It has so much to offer and despite the traffic and tourist crowds, it’s such an amazing place to visit. Yes, definitely visit during the night too – especially the Trevi fountain. It was a way better experience at night.

  13. Thanks Maria! You’re so right – Rome wasn’t the cleanest city and was so touristy but I loved all the ruins and architecture too. Just the thought of those statues carved by the masters were incredible and I’m not close to being an Art major. :)

  14. The fountains of Rome first caught my attention when I read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown!! This is a wonderful post, a visual feast! The architecture and the pleasing nature of these fountains is just something I would love to experience one day.

  15. What a wonderful tour through Rome and its fountains! Your pictures are quite striking and love the day / night versions as well. Such a clever way to bring a tour of Rome to light through its fountains!

  16. What a beautiful tour around Rome and its fountains. I really LOVED my stay there…the Bernini mark is unmistakeable and I especially remember the smaller fountains which are so precious.Thanks for this!

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