{"id":791,"date":"2026-03-20T11:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=791"},"modified":"2026-05-02T18:28:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:28:56","slug":"fontana-dellacqua-paola","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=791","title":{"rendered":"Fontana\u00a0dell&#8217;Acqua\u00a0Paola\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"399\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-642.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-792\" srcset=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-642.png 399w, https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-642-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0City\u00a0justifiably has\u00a0acquired\u00a0great fame for its beautiful fountains, over 1,300 in the Imperial Age. Its least visible but most impressive is the \u201cIl Fontane\u201d (Great Fountain) which dominates the Janiculum Hill. For over a thousand years the Trajan Aqueduct (Aqua Traina) had\u00a0fed\u00a0the area of Trastevere with water. Pope Paul V restored and extended it and created the\u00a0grandiose\u00a0fountain\u00a0as\u00a0the\u00a0face\u00a0of\u00a0its\u00a0terminal\u00a0point\u00a0(mostra).\u00a0In\u00a0the\u00a0early 17<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century Pope Paul V raised funds for his project in part by imposing a tax upon wine about which the famous talking statue\u00a0<strong>Pasquino complained<\/strong>, describing the pope not as Pontifex Maximus (great bridge builder) but, rather, as \u201cFontifex\u00a0Maximus\u201d (fountain builder in-chief).\u00a0The fountain\u2019s source is\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Lake Bracciano<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>located in a nearby hill town outside of Rome.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"292\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-643.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-793\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At\u00a0the\u00a0top\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0fountain\u00a0rests\u00a0the\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">papal\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0Borghese\u00a0family\u00a0coat\u00a0of arms\u00a0<\/strong>with an\u00a0<strong>inscription\u00a0<\/strong>praising the benefaction of the water and its\u00a0benefactor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"303\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-644.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-794\" srcset=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-644.png 303w, https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-644-300x224.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">spectacular\u00a0semi-circular\u00a0pool<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0designed\u00a0and\u00a0added\u00a0later\u00a0by\u00a0Carlo Fontana, catches water gushing from the basins above providing spectators with aesthetic and practical benefits alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"301\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-645.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-795\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across\u00a0the\u00a0street\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0Aqua\u00a0Paola\u00a0stands\u00a0the\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Porta\u00a0San\u00a0Pancrazio<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0a gate of the ancient Aurelian Wall on the southern side of the\u00a0City.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Constructed in the middle of the 1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;century BC and originally called the Porta&nbsp;Aurelia,&nbsp;it&nbsp;opened&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;Via&nbsp;Aurelia&nbsp;Antica,&nbsp;the&nbsp;road&nbsp;which&nbsp;led&nbsp;to&nbsp;the Mediterranean and then followed the coastline north to France. It takes its current name&nbsp;from the nearby church&nbsp;of San Pancrazio, an&nbsp;early Christian martyr whose burial site which in the Middle Ages attracted hosts of pilgrims visiting the&nbsp;City. The gate was destroyed 1849 by French soldiers when, in defense of the papal City, they attacked Giuseppe Garibaldi\u2019s Republican soldiers holding the Janiculum Hill. In 1854 Pope Pius IX&nbsp;commissioned&nbsp;Virginio&nbsp;Vespingnani&nbsp;to&nbsp;reconstruct&nbsp;the&nbsp;gate and&nbsp;restore&nbsp;it&nbsp;to its previous state.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"289\" height=\"217\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-646.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-796\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0City\u00a0justifiably has\u00a0acquired\u00a0great fame for its beautiful fountains, over 1,300 in the Imperial Age. Its least visible but most impressive is the \u201cIl Fontane\u201d (Great Fountain) which dominates the Janiculum Hill. For over a thousand years the Trajan Aqueduct (Aqua Traina) had\u00a0fed\u00a0the area of Trastevere with water. Pope Paul V restored and extended it and created&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-791","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}