Neighborhood Fountains
(Fontane Rionali)

  by Margaret Coffin
of InfoRoma
"The Rome Experts"

During the Middle Ages, Rome was divided into sectors known as rioni. Each had its own particular characteristics, and the inhabitants were proud of belonging to their neighborhood. (The same kind of rivalry is still to be found in Siena, where the contrade vie with one another for the palio twice a year.)

As Rome spread out beyond its ancient walls in the course of the 20th century, new quarters grew up and new administrative divisions were defined, but in the city center references to the rioni can still be seen in the street signs: in the corner of the stone plaques you will see "R" plus a Roman numeral, indicating the number of the rione.

There are innumerable fountains in Rome, ranging from the monumental Trevi Fountain and Bernini's Fountain of the Rivers to the humble iron drinking fountains which can be seen everywhere. (The Romans call these nasoni - "big noses" - because of the shape of their spout.) This article is about a particular series of nine fontane rionali (neighborhood fountains), which the City of Rome commissioned from an architect called Pietro Lombardi in 1926. They are all made of white travertine stone, quarried in the hills near Tivoli, and each one includes objects which symbolize the history and traditions of the rione in which it stands.

Rione Monti - Fontana dei Monti
(Fountain of the Hills)

The Rione Monti is the largest of the rioni. It stretches across three of Rome's seven hills and extends from St. Mary Major to St. John Lateran.

The Fountain of the Hills stands in Via S. Vito. Three stylized mounts, decorated with stars, represent the hills which form part of the rione: Esquiline, Viminal and Caelian.

Rione Campo Marzio - Fontana degli Artisti
(Fountain of the Artists)

This rione occupies the low-lying area between Piazza del Popolo and Piazza di Spagna. (In ancient Roman times it was used for martial exercises, hence the name.) Because the area lies just inside the city gate, it has always been much frequented by foreigners, who used to arrive from the north along the Via Flaminia. During the 18th and early 19th century, it became a favorite haunt of writers and artists.

The Fountain of the Artists stands on Via Margutta, a street where many painters used to have their studios. The water pours from the mouths of two masks, propped on artist's stools; above, a stone bucket contains painter's brushes of various sizes.

Rione Pigna - Fontana della Pigna
(Fountain of the Pine-cone)

The pine-cone which gave its name to the area between Piazza Venezia and the Pantheon is a bronze fountain dating from the 1st or 2nd century A.D. In about 800 it was moved to St. Peter's, where it stood in the courtyard of the Constantinian basilica. When this was demolished in the 16th century, the pine-cone was moved to its present position in the Belvedere Courtyard inside the Vatican.

Lombardi's Fountain of the Pine-cone stands in Piazza San Marco, near the foot of Capitol Hill. It is a smaller version of the original, mounted on a stem above stylized leaves, with drinking spouts on either side.

Rione Sant'Eustachio - Fontana dei Libri
(Fountain of the Books)

This rione lies between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, around the church of S. Eustachio. Its emblem is a stag's head, on account of the legend of St. Eustace, which tells how a Roman patrician, while out hunting, saw a stag with a cross between its horns and was converted. He later met his death as a martyr, together with all his family. The rione was the seat of Rome's first university, which was founded in the Palazzo Sapienza in 1303.

The Fountain of the Books is on Via Staderari, to one side of the Palazzo Sapienza. It consists of two shelves, each bearing two books, with tasselled bookmarks from which the water runs. In the center is a relief of a stag's head.

Rione Prati di Castello - Fontana delle Palle di Cannone
(Fountain of the Cannon-balls)

Castel Sant'Angelo was built by the emperor Hadrian as a mauseoleum for himself and his family. In the Middle Ages it was made into a castle and played a fundamental role in the defense of Rome and the Vatican. The area to the north of Castel Sant'Angelo was occupied by meadows (prati) until the end of the 19th century. (This rione is now normally referred to simply as Prati.)

The Fountain of the Cannon-balls stands on Via di Porta Castello. Stone cannon-balls, such as those which used to be fired from the nearby castle, form a pyramid; water issues from the mouth of a face in the middle of the pile.

Rione Borgo - Fontana delle Tiare
(Fountain of the Tiaras)

The Rione Borgo, between Castel Sant'Angelo and St. Peter's, takes its name from a township - burgh in Anglo-Saxon - founded here in the 6th century by Totila, King of the Goths. It later became papal property and has always been closely associated with the Vatican.

The Fountain of the Tiaras stands just outside the colonnade of St. Peter's, on the northern side, in Largo del Colonnato. It is formed by four tiaras (the beehive-shaped papal head-dress), decorated with fine reliefs. (The fountain has recently been restored.)

Rione Trastevere - Fontana della Botte
(Fountain of the Barrel)

Trastevere takes its name from Trans Tiberim - "beyond the Tiber" - as it was known in ancient Roman times: it lies across the river from the main part of the city. The Rione Trastevere, which occupies the area around the Basilica of S. Maria in Trastevere, has always been renowned for its numerous taverns.

The Fountain of the Barrel stands in Via della Cisterna, near Piazza S. Callisto. It consists of an upright barrel with a wine-jug on either side. The water flows from a spout in the side of the barrel into a stone wine-vat beneath. When the fountain was first inaugurated, in 1927, it was connected to a large barrel of real wine instead of the aqueduct, to the joy of the inhabitants of the rione.

Rione Ripa - Fontana del Timone
(Fountain of the Helm)

This rione, which occupies the southern part of present-day Trastevere, was of great importance from Roman times until the last century. It was the site of a bustling river-port, where goods arrived in Rome by barge up the Tiber.

The Fountain of the Helm stands on Lungotevere Ripa, against the wall of the Istituto San Michele. In the upper part is the wheel of a boat, the emblem of the Rione Ripa. Beneath, a bollard stands on either side, with a ring carved in relief.

Rione Testaccio - Fontana delle Anfore
(Fountain of the Amphorae)

This area, on the opposite side of the river from Trastevere, was Rome's first river-port, in the days when Ostia was the city's sea-port. Until the 2nd century, buffalo used to walk along a tow-path on the southern side of the Tiber pulling barges laden with goods up the river from Ostia to Testaccio. (Later, the port of Ostia silted up and a new harbor, Portus, was built on the northern side of the Tiber, near modern Fiumicino.) Wine and oil were transported in terracotta vases known as amphorae. Excavations in Monte Testaccio have revealed that this hill consists entirely of broken vases.

The Fountain of the Amphorae is located at the river end of Via Marmorata, near Ponte Sublicio. It is a free-standing fountain, the largest of those built by Pietro Lombardi. A composition of tall vases stands at the center of a symmetrical construction, with drinking-spouts on all sides.

Copyright © 1999 Margaret Coffin

Questions about this article? Comments for the author?

Margaret Coffin
InfoRoma
"The Rome Experts"
info@inforoma.it

Margaret Coffin was born and educated in Great Britain before moving to Rome in 1969. For many years she has spent most of her free time exploring the Eternal City and the surrounding area, Latium. In 1994 she left a full-time job as Logistics Manager with a multi-national telecommunications corporation to found InfoRoma and share her love of Rome with visitors from overseas.

InfoRoma specializes in custom itinerary planning: a unique personal sightseeing program is drawn up on the basis of each client's interests and requirements. An individually printed booklet sets out a day-by-day itinerary, together with all the practical details necessary for the independent traveler who wants accurate, up-to-date information about sights, events, restaurants and public transport in Rome.

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Published February 16, 1999

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