Our present landlord here in Rome, Stefano Mencarini, has been an exceptionally kind and thoughtful host. He took time to drive us around Rome at night to see it in a totally different manner. In spite of a challenging flat tire part way through the trip, Stefano spent over four hours taking us to all corners of Rome. As he told us several times, "I love my town" and it showed with every site to which he took us. Obviously, a four hour tour of Rome would be impossible to encapsulate in a few pictures here. Therefore, this is just a sampling of some of the wonderful sights we saw.
The Fontane dele Tartarughe (The Turtle Fountain) is in the Piazza Mattei not far from Castile Saint Angelo. It was constructed between 1580 and 1588 with the bronze turtles ( noted along the top edge of the circular basin) attributed to Bernini, being added 100 years later during a restoration. This was one of eighteen fountains planned to provide drinking water to the citizens of Rome.
Our landlord Stefano explaining some of the history of the Turtle fountain.
The Triton fountain is located in Piazza Barberini. Pope Urban VIII commissioned its construction around 1642. This was the first Bernini free-standing urban fountain and was to provide water from the Acqua Felice aqueduct.
The Fontana dell'Aqua Paola, also known as "The Big Fountain", is located on the Janiculum Hill over-looking the city. It was constructed between 1610-1612 to mark the end of the Aqua Paola aqueduct .
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