The Fountains of Rome

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The Fountain of Piazza dell' Aracoeli

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Map

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Fountain in Piazza dell' Aracoeli

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The Fontana di Piazza dell' Aracoeli, one of the oldest fountains in Rome, was commissioned by Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-90) and designed by Giambattista della Porta. 

The upper basin is decorated with four pot-bearing putti, who stand in a circle with their backs to each other. The fountain is crowned with the heraldic hills of the pope's coat of arms.  

After decades of neglect the fountain has finally been reburbished. The thick accretions of limescale, which obscured most of the details, have been painstakingly removed and the 16th century fountain now (April, 2025) looks glorious. 

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