The Fountain of the Senate

Via degli Staderari

The Fountain of the Senate (Fontana del Senato)

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In 1985 a large granite basin came to light during excavation work near Palazzo Madama, in the heart of the centro storico. 

The basin, which weighs in the region of 25 tons, once belonged to the Baths of Nero (Thermae Neronis, c. 62 CE), remains of which lie beneath the Palazzo del Senato. The baths were rebuilt, circa 227, by the emperor Alexander Severus and renamed the Thermae Alexandrinae. 

In 1987 the basin became the centrepiece of a fountain (Fontana del Senato), which was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Italian constitution, as a plaque on a nearby wall proclaims.