Fontana di Piazza Colonna | |
|---|---|
| Fountain | |
 19th century print of the fountain in the Piazza Colonna | |
| Design | Giacomo Della Porta |
| Location | Rome |
 Interactive map of Fontana di Piazza Colonna | |
| Coordinates:41°54′03″N12°28′49″E / 41.90083°N 12.48028°E /41.90083; 12.48028 | |
Thefountain in thePiazza Colonna is a fountain inRome,Italy, designed by the architectGiacomo Della Porta and constructed by theFiesole sculptorRocco Rossi between 1575 and 1577.[1]
The fountain was one of a group of sixteen fountains built by Della Porta following the reconstruction of theAcqua Vergine aqueduct, a project begun byPope Pius IV in 1561 and finished byPope Pius V in 1570. The fountain itself was built underPope Gregory XIII, best known for creating theGregorian calendar. Like the other Roman fountains of its time, it was built to provide clean drinking water to the Roman residents, who before then had to drink the polluted water of theTiber River. Also like the other fountains of its time, it operated purely by gravity; the source of the water was higher than the fountain itself, causing the water to spout into the air.
The water for the fountain first arrived at the old Trevi Fountain, then went to two reservoirs at the foot of the butte of San Sebastiancello, then through a series of the channels to the corner of via Condotti and the via del Corso, toPiazza Venezia, to the foot of thecolumn ofMarcus Aurelius. The source of the water for the fountain of Piazza Colonna was only 67 feet above sea level; like theTrevi Fountain, theFontana della Barcaccia, and the fountains ofPiazza Navona, all connected to the Acqua Vergine, the fountain of Piazza Colonna was unable to jet water high into the air.[2]
The original project of Della Porta was to place an antique Roman statue of a sea god, called Marforio, in the fountain, against a background of a rocky grotto, behind which thecolumn of Marcus Aurelius would be seen.[3] The final fountain was simpler: the octagonal basin of the fountain was made of pink marble from the island ofChios inGreece, the same marble that Della Porta used for frame of the doorway ofSt. Peter's Basilica. Della Porta also designed the sixteen carved lion heads around the basin. A circular stone vasque was placed on a pedestal in the center, and water poured from this vasque into the basin.[4]
The fountain was slightly restored byBernini during the pontificate ofPope Alexander VII. In 1702 Pope Clement XI placed his own coat of arms, a star with eight points, on top of the original vasque in the center, but this was removed after his death.
In 1830 the architect Alessandro Stocchi removed the original central vasque and replaced it with the current vasque, made of white marble. He also added two groups of sculptures of dolphins, their tails wrapped around seashells, spouting water from their mouths, at either end of the basin.
Media related toFontana di Piazza Colonna (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Fontana di Piazza d'Aracoeli | Landmarks of Rome Fontana di Piazza Colonna | Succeeded by Fontane di Piazza Farnese |
