Trevi fountain
The Trevi fountain is a fountain in Rome. It lies in the Trevi district, from which it gets its name. The current fountain was built from 1732 to 1736 in Baroque style. At about 26 metres (85 ft) high and about 50 metres (160 ft) wide the Trevi fountain is Rome's largest fountain. It is also one of the best-known ones.
History
[change | change source]In the year 19 BC, Marcus Agrippa commissioned an aqueduct to provide water for the baths he had built in the city. This aqueduct is about 26 kilometres (16 mi) long, and has been in use since then. From the 12th century, the aqueduct provided water to three fountains in the current Via del Corso in Rome. Pope Nicholas V ordered the restoration of the aqueduct, in the 15th cenrury. The new aqueduct ended in a different place. Leon Battista Alberti constructed a simple fountain, which provided water from three openings. The wall of this fountain also bore the signs of the pope. Pope Pius IV also had the aqueduct restored, about a century later, from 1561 to 1570. Pope Urban VIII ordered a new fountain to be built; for lack of money, all that was done is that the place before the fountain was enlarged.