Tuesday, 9 May 2017

Notes on Rione Trevi

I'm in the Trevi district today, Rome's second administrative area. It isn't big, only fifty-five hectares but there's THAT fountain. Rome's largest Baroque fountain and one of the world's most famous. Anita Ekberg waded into the fountain and cavorted under the gushing water in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. A scene which, over the years, has inspired many. 

Just this past April a young Italian stripped and swam across the fountain. A week later a young Spaniard stripped and dipped into the fountain to purify himself. Both were greeted by the polizia municipale and handed a 450 euro fine. Bathing in Rome's fountains is strictly forbidden. 

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 Trevi fountain facts  
1. The fountain was designed by Nicola Salvi even though he didn't win the contest for the commision organised by Pope Clement XII. Alessandro Galilei won the contest but as he was a Florentine, the Romans were  outraged so the Pope gave in. Salvi, a Roman, got the job. He never saw the finished work.
2. It is 26.3 metres high and 49.15metres wide.
3. It spills around 80 million litres of water a day. 
4. It is made of Travertine stone which was quarried from Tivoli (a town 35kms east of Rome).
5. It is situated at the junction of three roads (tre vie in Italian) hence its name

6. An estimated 3000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. It is, of course, forbidden  to steal the coins that are thrown in the fountain though many have tried.

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Daily thousands of tourists gather round the fountain with their annoying selfie sticks. They try to grab a photo with the stunning white backdrop of Neptune but without the hordes of other people trying to do exactly the same thing. Sometimes I wonder: do they actually see the fountain, or is it just another photo op? 

But the Trevi district isn't just about a fountain. It encompasses the Palazzo del Quirinale, one of three official residences of the President of the Repubblic. 

Set on the highest of the seven hills on which Rome was built, it's a massive building (110,500 square metres), the ninth largest palace in the world.To give a sense of its gigantic size, the White House in the USA is one-twentieth of its size.

But what really catches the eye on Piazza del Qurinale is the central fountain - the Dioscuri Fountain. It features 5.5metre-tall statues of Castor and Pollux taming horses. They had previously flanked the entrance to the baths of Constantine.

The obelisk in between them stands 14 metres high and originally came from the entrance to the mausoleum of Augustus. As for the central basin, it was an ancient Roman shell which had been used as a trough on the Roman Forum.

I head down some steps onto Via della Dattaria and into the heart of the Trevi district. It is crowded as ever. A sign indicating the archaeological remains of the acqua vergine acqueduct catches my attention. But the entrance to the site is closed and hidden behind a metal shutter with no indication as to when it would open again. 

I beat a retreat and find myself in front of a Magnum store. I shake my head. Why in a country with the best ice-cream in the world would they do that? The store is full of young tourists all eager to dip their Magnums in melted chocolate, cover them in multi-coloured sprinkles and customise their treat.

I continue my walk and on a deceptively small Piazza dominated by the blinding whiteness of the sculpture is the Trevi Fountain. A police car is parked on a corner. The vigili are keeping an eye on the crowd.

This time I ignore the fountain and turn up a narrow alley way. People are ambling slowly up it. Some stop at the souvenir shops which line the streets, others queue up for an ice-cream from one of the many 'gelaterie' on the streets where even if they are not the best ice-creams in Rome, they will be more genuine than those on offer at the Magnum store.

Viccolo Scanderberg, one of many alleyways in the Trevi area.

But before heading for the last marvel of the area, I go and check out a curiosity, one I often took for granted as I would hurry to the 'Quirinetta'  theatre in its incarnation as an original version cinema. 

I first passed through it on a guided tour, a year before I moved to Rome. It was one of these mad dashes where in three hours the principal sites were covered: the Colosseum, Piazza Venezia, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It was spitting with rain that day and our guide led us through some back alleys to the Trevi Fountain. We paused for shelter in the Galleria Sciarra. Our guide had little time for our questions, "it's just a passage way," she scoffed and waved her yellow stick to herd us along.

Galleria Sciarra which links Piazzetta del'Oratorio to Via Minghetti is in the Roman Liberty style. Its central part was painted between 1885 and 1888 by Giuseppe Cellini. The main theme is a celebration of woman as angel, wife and mother.

Most tourists tend to come across it almost by accident. It's not sign-posted as if the authorities want to keep it hidden.   

My final stop in the Trevi district has to be Piazza Barberini  and the Fountain of the Triton, sculpted by Bernini. It was commissioned by his patron Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini) to stand on Piazza Barberini near Palazzo Barberini which today houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica. The Galleria is well worth a visit.

Piazza Barberini is surrounded by streets and at certain times of the day jam packed with buses, taxis and other vehicles. It's also one of the most polluted areas in the centre of the city. The fountain has had over the years a number of expensive clean up jobs to remove the grime coughed up by the traffic.
 
The fountain bears the Barberini coat of arms: three bees under the Papal tiara and the keys to St. Peter's. The bees symbolised hard work and dedication. It was the last work Bernini did for his patron as Urban VIII died shortly after its completion.

As I wander through the streets of the Trevi district I realise that I haven't found the district's crest: a shield with three swords.

All the old bins, large metal containers with the district's crest in gold, in the central touristic part of the city, have been removed. No doubt another security measure. The new bins are plastic stands with large transparent bin bags. Unattractive but all the rubbish is visible so nothing can be concealed in them.

Eventually above a large McDonalds sign I find an old shield. But the symbols have been erased by time and all that can be read are the words 'Trevi'.






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