Rome: Trevi Fountain

Before I went to Rome I thought the Trevi Fountain must be incredibly overrated. I mean, its a fountain. Big deal. I’ve seen plenty of fountains.

My third day in Rome I was looking for San Crispino (the gelato shop from “Eat, Pray, Love”) which is supposedly near the Trevi Fountain. Map in hand, winding my way through narrow medieval streets swarmed with tourists, I suddenly rounded a corner and stopped short as the alleyway opened up into a large open space PACKED with people.

San Crispino was still a couple blocks away and I searched through the crowd trying to figure out the path of least resistance. I took several steps into the jostling mass before I realized what everyone was looking at and I couldn’t help myself: I was mesmerized. It would’ve been a perfect time to try to pickpocket me; I wouldn’t’ve noticed.

Commanding the entire side of the piazza was… dun dun dun! The Trevi Fountain! I had no idea how absolutely massive it is, and I definitely didn’t expect it to be in a square surrounded by buildings without a lot of “breathing room” around it, looming over the small piazza. The only activity in the square was fountain-watching; there was no room for anything else. The grandeur and beauty of the fountain is really overwhelming. Not a lot of things are what I would call literally “breathtaking”, but the Trevi Fountain is one of those. Pictures don’t do it justice (but here’s one anyway).

I really wanted to just sit and gawk at the fountain but there were way too many people throwing coins and taking pictures and generally being tourists. If there’s one thing I hate when traveling its feeling like a stereotypical tourist. So I moved on. But even though I didn’t throw a coin with my right hand over my left shoulder into the fountain, I WILL go back and get another chance to gawk.

The Trevi Fountain is at the junction of three roads (“tre vie”) that meet over one of Ancient Rome’s largest aqueducts, Acqua Vergine, which was located in 19 BC(supposedly with the help of a virgin – because all virgin’s have a sensory affinity to pure water, dontcha know). Bernini (who designed the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona) was asked to sketch a fountain on the site in 1629, but those plans were never realized. In 1730 Pope Clement held a contest to design the fountain which was won by a Florentine, but public outcry made him give the commission to a Roman, Nicola Salvi, instead.

The Trevi Fountain was completed in 1762, ten years after Salvi’s death. It features Neptune, god-of-the-sea, directing lesser gods and also gives homage to the virgin shepherdess who originally led soldiers to the aqueduct.

Coins collected from the fountain (sometimes reported to be 3000 euro a day!) are used to fund a subsidized supermarket for Rome’s needy citizens.