The Fountain of the Madonna dei Monti is located on the Piazza of the same name in front of the church of Santa Maria ai Monti in the Monti district in Rome. The official name of this fountain is Fontana dei Catecumeni.
Madonna dei Monti Fountain Rome
History and description
The Catecumeni Fountain was commissioned by Pope Sixtus V Peretti, designed by the famous architect Giacomo della Porta and built, between 1588 and 1589, by the sculptor Battista Rusconi. The Pope had had the found the fountain built after he had finished the construction of the Felice Aqueduct.
For the design Della Porta took his inspiration from the fountain on the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere.
The person chosen to actually turn Della Porta‘s design into reality was the sculptor Battista Rusconi.
The steps leading up to the fountain were done by Girolamo de Rossi.
The fountain consists of an octagonal basin decorated with the coats-of-arms of Pope Sixtus and of the Municipality of Rome. Four steps lead up to this basin and two smaller basins rise up above it. Water pours from the upper basin into the middle one and then, through the mouths of four lion heads, into the bigger lower one.
The upper basin is decorated with masks and with the coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus (three mountains).
It is a rather simple fountain, which is explained by the poverty of the inhabitants of the area in the time it was built. At the moment is the central meeting point in the Monti district.
The Fontana della Madonna dei Monti is also known as the Fountain of the Converts.