Fountain of Acqua Acetosa

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It is a fountain in Rome, Italy, located in the flat area that bears the same name

The Fontana dell'Acqua Acetosa is a fountain in Rome, Italy, located in the flat area of the same name, in the Parioli district; at this point the Tiber River forms a deep bend before heading north again. The fountain itself is located lower than the street level, and is therefore accessed via a staircase. In 2003, the Italian Environment Fund, following a popular census, considered it the monument to which Italians are most fond.

The name derives from the source of ferruginous water, known to the Romans of the 1613th century as acetosa water (not to be confused with the more famous Fonte Ostiense water in the area), which flowed here. In XNUMX, Pope Paul V had it analyzed, and it was found that it was not only drinkable, but also curative for kidney, stomach, spleen and liver diseases, so much so that some collected it in bottles to sell in the city.

Water was particularly appreciated by Pope Paul V, who had a fountain built by the architect Giovanni Vasanzio in 1619, as the plaque on a lower wall still recalls; at the time the source was a simple wall from which water flowed. It was restored by Innocent X. Pope Alexander VII commissioned the current fountain. At the top there is a tympanum that houses the papal coat of arms and a plaque.

The fountain has a staircase that leads down to the bottom, where there is a facade in the shape of an exedra. Three niches are carved into the facade, in each of which the Chigi coat of arms - six mountains surmounted by an eight-pointed star - is located above a small basin fed by a spout. The attribution to Gianlorenzo Bernini is probably false: it is in fact assumed that the projects are by Andrea Sacchi or the architect Marco Antonio De' Rossi
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