Fontana di Trevi

The Wishing Fountain.Today warm and sunny day. Fontana di Trevi ,at the bottom of the street, backed by the façade of the Palazzo Poli, (have a look of the first image posted on this web) looms the most stunning of the fountains of Rome: the central figure, the Ocean (by Pietro Bracci) is shown dominating sea horses guided by Tritons, while in the niches on either side are the figures of Abundance (on the left) and Health (on the right), both by Filippo della Valle.

Bernini had initially been commissioned by Urban VIII to construct a monumental fountain, but the project had been abandoned after the Popes' death. It was Nicola Salvi, almost a century later, who was to build this ensemble on the site of one of Rome's earliest fountains designed to receive the water of the Aqua Virgo.

The bliss of returning to the Eternal City is guaranteed to all foreigners who, with their back turned, throw a coin over their shoulder into the fountain. (Before leaving the square be sure to look at the church of Santi Vincenzo ed Anastasio.

Cardinal Mazarin commissioned Martino Longhi the Younger to design the ornate Baroque façade, which was built between 1641 and 1650.)
Ph: © 2006, giovanni de angelis