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Trevi Fountain Review

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Trevi Fountain

Address: Piazza di Trevi, accessed by Via Tritone, Via Poli, Via delle Muratte, Via del Lavatore, and Via di San Vincenzo, Rome

Category: Squares
Location: Corso and Spagna

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Fodor's Review:

Alive with rushing waters commanded by an imperious Oceanus, the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) earned full-fledged iconic status in 1954 when it starred in 20th-Century Fox's Three Coins in the Fountain. As the first color film in Cinemascope to be produced on location, it caused practically half of America to pack their bags for the Eternal City. From the very start, however, the Trevi has been all about theatrical effects. An aquatic marvel in a city filled with them, the fountain's unique drama is largely due to the site: its vast basin is squeezed into the tight meeting of three little streets (the "tre via", which gives the fountain its name) with cascades emerging as if from the back wall of Palazzo Poli. The conceit of a fountain emerging full-force from a palace was first envisioned by Bernini and Pietro da Cortona for Pope Urban VIII's plan to rebuild the fountain (which marked the end-point of the ancient Acqua Vergine aqueduct, created in 18 BC by Agrippa). Only three popes later, under Pope Clement XIII, did Nicolo Salvi finally break ground with his winning design. Salvi had his cake and ate it, too, for while he dazzles the eye with Rococo pyrotechnics—the sculpted seashells, the roaring seabeasts, the divalike mermaids—he has slyly incorporated them a stately triumphal arch (in fact, Clement was then restoring Rome's Arch of Constantine). Salvi, unfortunately, did not live to see his masterpiece completed in 1762: working in the culverts of the aqueduct eleven years earlier, he caught his death of cold and died.

Tips

Everyone knows the famous legend that if you throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain you will ensure a return trip to the Eternal City. But not everyone knows you have to do the ritual the right way: Toss a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder, with your back to the fountain. Others point out that to better your chances, toss two: one to guarantee that return trip, the other to make the wish come true. The fountain grosses about EUR 120,000 a year, most of it donated to charity.

Even though you might like to reenact Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni's famous Trevi dip in La Dolce Vita, be forewarned: police guard the fountain 24 hours a day to keep out movie buffs and lovebirds alike, and transgressors risk a fine of up to EUR 500.

Set on the Piazza di Trevi, the Gelateria San Crispino (Via della Panetteria 42 06/6793924) is for discerning palettes, with unusual taste combinations and natural ingredients.

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