You are along the route: AQUEDUCTS AND FOUNTAINS. THE MARVEL OF WATER
Via del Babuino
www.sovraintendenzaroma.it
Always visible.
In the late sixteenth century, an ancient sculpture depicting a satyr, a mythological creature of a wold and dissolute nature, or perhaps Sanco Fidio, a wild divinity of the Sabine area, was used doe the construction of a fountain, offered to the city by Alessandro Grandi, whose home the fountain backed on to, supplied with water by the Acqua Virgo aqueduct, which had just been restored. The giggling sculpture semi-reclining in a bath, which has become even more grotesque over time and as a result of atmospheric agents, was so repulsive it was nicknamed “Il Babuino” (the Baboon), and the street is named after it. After changing owner and location several times, it was returned to the street it gave its name to in 1957, following a major campaign by the inhabitants of the area, alongside the Church of Sant’Anastasio dei Greci.
Picture by permission from Roma Capitale-Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali
Further reproduction prohibited
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