Bernini: The Genius Behind Italy's Most Impressive Fountains

Bernini: The Genius Behind Italy's Most Impressive Fountains Bernini: Genius Behind Italy's Impressive Fountains 296527195487755868.jpg

Bernini's earliest water fountain, named Barcaccia, is a masterful work of art seen at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, this spot is filled with Roman locals and travelers alike who enjoy debate and each other's company. One of the city’s most fashionable gathering spots are the streets surrounding Bernini's fountain, which would undoubtedly have brought a smile to the great Bernini. In about 1630, the great master built the very first water fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. The fountain’s central theme is based on an enormous ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. The great 16th century flooding of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the fountain according to documents from the time. In 1665 Bernini traveled to France, in what was to be his sole extended absence from Italy.

Aqueducts: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems

Aqueducts: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems Aqueducts: Solution Rome's Water Problems 05659527996588792.jpg

Previous to 273, when the very first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was established in Rome, residents who resided on hills had to go further down to get their water from natural sources. During this time period, there were only two other techniques capable of supplying water to high areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which gathered rainwater. In the very early sixteenth century, the city began to make use of the water that flowed below the ground through Acqua Vergine to deliver water to Pincian Hill. The aqueduct’s channel was made reachable by pozzi, or manholes, that were positioned along its length when it was initially created. The manholes made it less demanding to thoroughly clean the channel, but it was also possible to use buckets to pull water from the aqueduct, as we discovered with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he bought the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he died. Even though the cardinal also had a cistern to get rainwater, it couldn't produce sufficient water. Fortunately, the aqueduct sat under his property, and he had a shaft established to give him accessibility.