Importance of Trevi Fountain to Rome
You will not find any other place in the globe that celebrates the ever-mutating and incredible sway of water like Rome. The Trevi Fountain is a awesome landmark that is much extra than a plain figure. This celebratory illustration of Baroque art with its quiet, innate lines and fantasy creatures embodies progress as the centre of the earth. The fountain is a true wonder, a jewel of water and stone that is located between the palaces of the historic heart of the city, maybe you even want to stay in a Rome Apartment right next to the Trevi fountain.
You may already listen to its charisma from the close by roads. Definitely, as you get nearer the thud of its gushing waters grows frequently more loud, reaching a climax in the open area, where you will find the most unbelievable scene. Suddenly, the space seems to open out and you stand before a symbolic representation of this great force of nature, a tumultuous spring that seems to flow out of the ground.
The light and shade effects on the limestone make the wind seem to bellow through the drapes and locks of the statues, agitating the waves, creating an extraordinarily intense and spectacular scene. In this Baroque creation, the architecture itself seems to come alive with the current of the revitalising waters.
Even the palace in the backdrop blends perfectly with the composition and the game of space and mass gives an air of movement to the entire statue. The central feature of the monument is a chariot in the shape of a shell, drawn by seahorses with Triton as their guide. Before the enormous central niche stands Oceanus. To the side are the statues of Abundance and Salubrity. All around, natural and artificial forms merge together in a representation of rocks and petrified vegetation that run along the foundation of the palace and around the borders of the pool, which represents the sea.
This unique statue has an ancient history. Its origins go back to Roman times and it was the terminal point of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct commissioned by Augustus, which was used to provide water for the thermal baths. The water that flows here has two names: Virgin Waters and Trevi. The first refers to an ancient legend about a young Roman girl who showed the source of the spring to some thirsty soldiers; whereas Trevi derives from the old name for the area, which was originally called Trebium.
The aqueduct continued to function, even though it was necessary to wait until the eighteenth century when Pope Clement XII decided to restore the Trevi district and began work on the fountain we know today. It took three centuries to complete and is often attributed to Bernini, but for the most part it is the work of the Roman architect, Nicola Salvi, who took twenty years to complete it.
This landmark is so legendary that even cinema has included it on many occasion, and many people are looking for Rome Apartments in the area Every person can picture the sight in the prominent Italian motion picture, “La Dolce Vita” by Fellini; on a quiet night in an virtually imaginary Rome, an alluring Anita Ekberg jumps into the Trevi Fountain fully clothed and questions Marcello Mastroianni to her. There is too another curious custom regarding the Trevi Fountain. It is believed that if you pitch a coin over your shoulder into the water, you will be in no doubt to revisit to Rome.
Filed under travel and leisure by on Jun 11th, 2010.
Recent Comments