When the scorching Roman sun reflecting off the stones of the Forum turns the city into a giant oven, tourists get a new take on an old attraction – the Fountains of Rome. The Trevi and the Four Rivers fountains are always high on people's must-see list, but a hot summer day transforms these monuments from photo opportunities to examples of the generosity of papal Rome. Dozens of elegant sculpted fountains, as well as hundreds of simple water spigots, ensure that one never has to go far to find a source of refreshing water where people can gratefully rinse feet, face and hands, cooling down and getting a second wind for the rest of the day's sightseeing.
The constant flow of water through the city has been a source of pride for Rome since its beginnings. Rome was famously founded on seven hills laced with underground springs, and the first inhabitants dug wells to obtain fresh water, supplementing from the Tiber when necessary. The growing population eventually needed more water, and wealthy Roman families found the solution. In 312 BC, Appius Claudius constructed Rome's first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia. The channel traveled eight miles, mostly underground, bringing over 70,000 cubic meters of water a day. By the fourth century after Christ, the capital of the empire was admired for its wealth of water that flowed through twelve aqueducts to about 1300 fountains. The fall of Rome and the numerous invasions of the fifth century saw the destruction of the aqueducts which forced the Romans to move closer to their sole source of water, the Tiber. For almost a thousand years, the Romans had to make do with river water until the Renaissance era.
In the fifteenth century, the Eternal City rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) led this urban renewal one step further, baptizing the reborn Rome by re-building the most famous of Rome's aqueducts, the Aqua Vergine, the only one of the aqueducts still in use today. The successive popes created new aqueducts, gradually recovering the city's ancient splendor and magnificence. Pope Gregory XIII hired Giacomo della Porta to create ten new fountains during the Jubilee Year of 1575, in order to beautify the public piazzas of Rome, such as the square in front of the Pantheon or by the column of Marcus Aurelius. As they were all made of marble, they offered not only a stately and elegant appearance, but also the pleasant musical sound of water playing off stone.
But the golden age of fountain design was still to come. The seventeenth century in Rome saw the construction of the great dramatic fountains by Bernini and his followers, such as the fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, the Triton fountain in Piazza Barberini and of course the Trevi fountain. These dynamic and spectacular structures remain hidden until one is right in front of them. One happens "by surprise" on the Trevi and is taken off-guard. The Four Rivers fountain has a similar effect, amazing the visitor by the sudden appearance of an obelisk hovering above the basin.
Although delightful for tourists, these fountains have greater meaning than just some artistic sleight-of-hand. They invite the pilgrim to feel amazement and to recognize how something as simple as water can take on such greatness. By extension, the simplicity of baptism is contrasted by the greatness of its effect. The fountains of Rome call for conversion and spur pilgrims to live their Christian lives to the fullest. Water held many meanings for the ancient world – purification, life and health; in Christian Rome, water also held a sacramental sense – baptism. Papal Rome's generosity with water flowing in every piazza for citizens and pilgrims alike, echoed the universality and ubiquity of the message of salvation.
Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian art and architecture at Duquesne University's Italian campus. To join a pilgrimage to Rome with Liz Lev, contact Corporate Travel Service at 800-727-1999; extension 121.
For more information of the Trevi Fountain, please click here.
