You are along the route: THE FASCINATION OF THE CLASSICS. GOETHE AND CANOVA
Via Garibaldi
www.sovraintendenzaroma.it
Always visible.
The fountain is a grandiose exhibition of the Acqua Paola, the ancient aqueduct of Trajan restored by Pope Paul V to supply Trastevere and the Vatican with water. Wanted by the Pope himself, it was built between 1610 and 1614. Better known as the “Fontanone del Gianicolo”, it faces towards a spectacular panorama of the city. In the note to his correspondence in December 1787, Goethe recalls his impression before this suggestive monument. He wrote: In the square in front of San Pietro Montorio, we salute the torrent of the Acqua Paola which gushes out through a triumphal arch from fie places into an enormous basin, filling it to the brim. This impetuous river comes from Bracciano, journeying twenty-five miles in an aqueduct built by Paul V.
After being used to power various factories and mills, this water is then supplied to the whole of Trastevere.
Here, my architect friends admire the concept of preparing such a triumphal exit for this water. Those columns and arches, those attics and cornices make bring to mind the triumphal arches through which the great conquerors passed when returning to Rome; here, the pacific and beneficial liquid flows with the same strength and imposingness and receives a roar of admiration when first appearing, as a prize for its long journey.
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