The Fontana di Piazza Trilussa is one of the most beautiful fountains in Rome. It is located in the Piazza Trilussa on the Trastevere side of the Ponte Sisto bridge across the river Tiber. Other names of this fountain are Fountain of the Ponte Sisto and Fountain of 100 Priests.
Piazza Trilussa Fountain Rome
History and description
Pope Paolo V Borghese commissioned construction of the Fountain in the Piazza Trilussa. It was built in 1613 by Giovanni Vasanzio (who was born in Utrecht in the Netherlands as Jan van Santen).
The fountain was needed in order to provide the Ospizio dei cento preti (“Hostel of the 100 Priests”) with water.
Initially the large travertino marble fountain stood at the end of the Via Giulia, across the river. It was moved to its present position in 1879, when it was decided to build the protective walls around the Tiber. Some years later it was again reconstructed and raised in order to increase its ;visibility from the Ponte Sisto itself.
The fountain’s most prominent feature is the coat of arms of the Borghese family. An epigraph rests on an architrave, which is supported by two Ionic columns. Water flows from the niche into a shell and from this shell into a basin on street level.
Two lion’s heads and two dragons are carved into the columns that spout water into the basin.
An iron structure between 6 columns made of red granite protects the fountain.