{"id":17082,"date":"2023-01-18T17:32:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T17:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/?p=17082"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:11:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T09:11:20","slug":"the-trevi-fountain-in-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walksofitaly.com\/blog\/attractions\/the-trevi-fountain-in-rome","title":{"rendered":"Rome’s Trevi Fountain: History, Lore, & Modern-Day Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story of the Trevi Fountain, one of Rome\u2019s<\/a> most famous fountains, starts with a young girl. According to legend, the source of Acqua Vergine<\/em> aqueduct, which feeds the Trevi, was discovered by a young girl (the titular \u201cvirgin\u201d) who later showed it to a group of thirsty Roman soldiers returning to Rome.<\/p>\n

When Marcus Agrippa caught wind of it, he made it the source of the Acqua Virgo<\/em>, one of the eleven ancient Roman aqueducts that gave the city the name Regina Aquarum<\/em> or \u201cQueen of the Waters.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Acqua Virgo<\/em> fell into disuse, but was rehabilitated (and renamed) into the Acqua Vergine<\/em> in the Renaissance. Over 100 years after this architectural marvel had been recommissioned, Pope Urban VIII (who never saw a public work that he couldn\u2019t improve) noticed that the original fountain just wasn\u2019t quite cutting it as the terminus for such a storied source of water.<\/p>\n

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One of the city’s most beloved and visited landmarks, the Trevi Fountain is simply amazing.<\/p><\/div>\n

His successor, Pope Clement XII solved the problem the way Baroque Romans solved all their civic questions, by having a contest<\/strong>. Trouble arrived in the form of a Florentine, Alessandro Galilei<\/a>, took the top prize, but failed to convince the Roman public, who didn\u2019t want a non-Roman designing a quintessentially Roman fountain. And so, the winner was ignored and building went ahead<\/strong> with the second place contestant, Nicola Salvi\u2019s design.<\/p>\n

The fountain took 30 years to complete, and it was financed with money garnered from the Roman lottery. The end result is a fountain with a variety of influences that, with its imagery, location, and history, is undoubtedly one of the most striking and beautiful in Rome.<\/p>\n

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