THE REMAINING FOUNTAINS
This last page about the late 16th century
describes two fountains that were moved from their original location,
following the many alterations suffered by Rome's historical districts during
the early decades of the 20th century.
It also tells about the attempt of carrying the Aqua Felix' water to the western
side of the Tiber.
Lastly, the page also includes the curious Navicella fountain. |
Gorgon's head from the fountain of piazza Giudia |
THE FOUNTAIN OF PIAZZA GIUDIA
(NOW IN PIAZZA DELLE CINQUE SCOLE)
 |
Piazza Giudia, as suggested by the name, was the square where up to 1870
stood one of the tall doors that closed the infamous Jewish ghetto,
described in Curious and Unusual page 6.
Inside the enclosure there was no source of water, and for almost half a century
since the ghetto had been established (1555) no fountain could be found in the
surrounding district either, being the closest one in front of Santa Maria
in Trastevere's church, on the other side of the Tiber, some 800 metres
(½ mile) off this spot.
For the many roman Jews, who were crammed inside this 8-acre area, to have a
fountain nearby was no doubt a primary need. But when the first program by
Gregory XIII had designated this square for one of the outputs of the
Salone water, the Mattei family, dwellers of a nearby palace, succeeded in
having the fountain built in front of their own building (see page 5). |
A few years later, piazza Giudia was chosen again to be the site of a fountain. It was also one of the last spots to be served, but at last della Porta built one also here.
Despite the repetitive scheme, the shape of the lower basin and that of the
usual steps below is rather interesting. The former consists of
two pairs of semicircles of different size, connected by short convex sides with
a slighter curvature; the steps roughly follow this shape, but have sharp corners to
match the sides. |
 |
|
18th century: the fountain in piazza Giudia, next to the pole used
for judicial purposes; on the right is the doorway to the ghetto |
The top basin is decorated with four fearsome Gorgon's heads. This part
was removed in 1924, when the fountain was disassembled,
following the extensive alterations of the district, due to
which the same piazza Giudia disappeared. The basin was temporarily set on a different fountain, on the Janiculum hill; but when six years later della Porta's work was mounted again in its present location, facing Palazzo Cenci Bolognetti
(only a few metres or yards away from its original location), it was given back
its top part.
|
THE FOUNTAIN OF PIAZZA MONTANARA
(NOW IN PIAZZA SAN SIMEONE)
This is the fountain whose life was more adventurous than any other.
Really not too large, it was born much smaller than its present size:
a plain basin with a low prysm in its center, tapered towards the top almost
as a small pyramid, whose only decorations were the pope's insignia. It had been
designed in 1589 by della Porta, an "economy class" work for the small square
by the Theatre of Marcellus, at the southern end of the Capitolium hill.
By the turn of the 18th century, a nearby monastery obtained the privilege of
using a part of the water drained from the fountain; in return, the nuns payed the
expenses for the making of a round baluster with grotesque
faces on its square base, and a simple top basin, in the traditional fashion
that a hundred years earlier della Porta had used for most of his other works, but
not for this one.
Shortly afterwards, also the lower basin was probably replaced with a
similar one that had papal crests on it; for some reason, the old one was soon
set back into place. |
 |
It was replaced again in 1829:
this time, instead of the papal insignia, the new basin featured those
of the Conservatori, the city's chief administrators. This was the fountain's
last change of shape.
the fountain in its early location; at the back is the ancient
Theatre of Marcellus, on which private houses had been built |
In the early 1930s all the districts surrounding the Capitolium hill underwent
heavy alterations, and most of the old houses were hastily demolished. Piazza
Montanara, as well as many other small squares, disappeared from Rome's city plan
for the making of the large street called via del Teatro Marcello.
Also the fountain was removed, and rebuilt in the Orange Garden on the top
of the Aventine hill (see The 22 Rioni,
Rione XII - Ripa).
It remained there for about forty years, and then in 1973 it was moved again to its ultimate
location, the small piazza San Simeone, along via dei Coronari (see previous picture). |
HOW THE AQUA FELIX REACHED TRASTEVERE
During the last three decades of the 16th century the "water revolution"
had considerably enhanced the development of the city's central and northern districts,
but the western bank of the Tiber, i.e. Trastevere and Borgo (including the Vatican) was still relying on
the small amount of water drawn from the Janiculum hill (see
page 1), and this clearly hampered the
development opportunities of this part of Rome.
As of 1592, a further project agreed by the municipal administration concerned an
extension of the Aqua Felix network, in order to cross the Tiber and
reach Trastevere. A new duct was specifically built for this purpose:
it stretched from the Quirinal hill all the way down to Santa Maria Bridge, just
past the Tiber Island.
a street plaque that remembers the flood in 1598 |
Since its making was slowed down by bureaucratic reasons, Galeazzo Riario,
the owner of a large mansion below the Janiculum (now called Palazzo Corsini) offered himself to buy
the whole duct from the municipal administration, so to speed up all the
formalities. The Farnese family, who owned the nearby Villa Farnesina,
bought a second private duct. But fearing that the new supply
would have critically reduced the amount of water available for the
other fountains in the city, the municipal administration continued to
delay the delivery towards Trastevere, despite the private ducts
had been completed, and had already been paid for, as well! |
Unexpectedly, in 1598, on Christmas eve, a tremendous flood submerged most parts
of Rome, smashing Santa Maria Bridge (which was never built again, and whose
surviving fragment was renamed Ponte Rotto, "broken bridge"). The ducts it
carried were badly damaged, as well, and this caused a further delay for Trastevere's water
supply.
It took six more years to alter the ducts' course, so to cross the
bridges of the Tiber Island, and in 1604 the water finally reached
the western district. |
the broken Santa Maria Bridge (asterisk) and the new course
of the ducts (arrow) across the Tiber Island, towards Trastevere (T) |
The old fountain before Santa Maria in Trastevere
was restored (its leaking plumbing was one of the reasons of the lack of water)
and its flow could be slightly increased thanks to the Aqua Felix.
THE NAVICELLA FOUNTAIN
Curiously, the Navicella ("small ship") was not even
born as a fountain.
In ancient Rome, on the Coelian hill stood the headquarters of a navy corps,
the sailors of Capo Miseno. Among their duties was the peculiar one of
operating the velarium, an enormous canvas that covered the Colosseum
by means of a complex system of pulleys, so to protect the
spectators from the rain or the strong sunlight. This corps
had dedicated to goddess Isis, the sailors' patron, a small replica of a ship,
carved in marble. |
the Navicella fountain |
During the early Renaissance years, this model was unearthed
in the surroundings of the church of Santa Maria in Domnica, which meanwhile
had been built there during the early Middle Ages. The ruin was badly preserved,
and in time it went lost.
But before this happened, architect and sculptor
Andrea Sansovino was given the comission by pope Leo X to make a faithful
copy of the ship, which in 1513 was set in front of the church, rested on a
rectangular base that bears the papal crest.
the ship's prow |
Besides its artistic value, the small ship also provides some reliable information
about the shape and the decorations found on ancient Rome's military ships. An
interesting detail is its prow, in the shape of a boar's head.
After the small ship, also Santa Maria in Domnica was popularly nicknamed "the Navicella church". No running water reached the Coelian hill, so this sculpture could not have any
other purpose than to embellish the church's front, that Sansovino had rebuilt;
in fact, it remained a mere decoration for over five centuries.
|
Only in 1931, when the modern waterworks had already covered all parts of Rome,
the sculpture was connected to a branch of the Aqua Felix, and turned into a
fountain. On the same occasion, a round pool was added below the composition.
other pages in part III
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21
