The Trevi Fountain

You hear it before you see it: as you step out of one of the narrow streets, the Trevi Fountain suddenly fills the entire front of a palace. It is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome, about 26 metres high and almost 50 wide.

1A two-thousand-year-old aqueduct

The water arrives through the Aqua Virgo, the aqueduct Agrippa opened in 19 BC, which, restored, still works today. Its name, «virgin water», has a traditional explanation that you'll see carved in a relief on the façade: a young girl is said to have shown the spring to some thirsty soldiers.

The present fountain came out of a competition held by Pope Clement XII, won by Nicola Salvi. Work began in 1732; Salvi died in 1751 without seeing it finished, and Giuseppe Pannini completed it in 1762. In the centre, Oceanus, by Pietro Bracci, rides forward on a shell-shaped chariot pulled by two sea horses: one calm, one rearing, the sea at rest and the sea in a storm.

Custom says that if you toss a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand, your back to the fountain, you will return to Rome.

The coins are collected regularly and given to the charity Caritas. Cinema made it a legend with Anita Ekberg wading into the water in Fellini's «La Dolce Vita» (1960).

2What to look for

• The two sea horses, one serene and one restless.
• The relief of the maiden pointing out the spring, up on the right.
• The big stone vase on the parapet to the right, nicknamed the «asso di coppe», the ace of cups: tradition says Salvi put it there to block the view of a barber who kept criticising the work.