The last week has been a week that I am glad is over. Deaths of friends and loved ones, frigid
weather, air you can’t breathe and the continued ineptitude and childishness of
the US Congress. I wish the politicians would not piss me off so much but they
do. I must stop watching these news shows.
After a day at work with the normal stresses of work and life, for some
no good reason I watch the cable news shows and by the time I go to bed I feel
beat up. I have not even been writing in
this blog lately. Every time I start to
write only the only thing I can think about are negative things. Further, it has been kind of lonely in the Bud
Cave with the Lovely Sharon out of town.
I needed something to pick up my spirits a
little.
I was working at home the other day, drafting contracts in
the Bud Cave and I had the TV on for background noise. There were four movies about Rome on in a row
and a 10 minute travelogue about Rome. It
made me think about the many beautiful fountains in Rome. The thought of the large, beautiful and
historic fountains, works of art, made me feel a little better about life. I recalled standing by these fountains,
amazed at their beauty and amazed that anyone could really create and build
such moving works of art.
I know it is a tourist place but Trevi Fountain is
beautiful. I like to sit at the Trevi
Fountain with all of the other tourists and watch the fountain and watch the
people. It’s a gathering place; a
spectacular gathering place. I have sat
at the fountain in the day and at night.
It is amazing in any light. I
found the following from http://www.trevifountain.net
The Trevi fountain is
an imposing fountain that served as a display of an ancient roman aqueduct
termination. The acqueduct is the Virgo
- Virgin in English - Aqueduct constructed by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa around
19 B:C: Agrippa was the son-in-law and the favorite general of Emperor Octavian
Augustus. The aqueduct was 21 km long but 19 were underground. The aqueduct was built by Agrippa to supply
the thermal baths he built in the Campus Martius, by the Pantheon. There was a
fountain at the end of the aqueduct already then. The display spilling water
was located on the site of the actual Church of St. Ignatius.
According to Sextus
Iulius Frontinus' specialised book "De aquaductibus Romae
commentarius", the acqueduct takes its name from a virgin lady that the
Roman soldiers met when they were thirsty and tired. She lead them to a source
of water to restore. That source was in the Ager Locullanus, the land between
the Tiburtina road and the Collatina road, two of the many roads that led to
Rome. That source still today supplies the acqueduct.
In the 4th Century
there were in Rome 1352 fountains. The aqueduct was damaged by the invasion of
the Ostrogoths led by King Vitigis in 537. After the barbaric invasions the last
portion of the aqueduct was abandoned and all the medieval restorations did not
continue further than the trivium crossing.
Starting from the early renaissance the popes start to decorate the end
of the aqueducts they restored with large fountains that were richly decorated.
Trevi Fountain:
My favorite piazza in Rome is no doubt the Piazza Navona.
The following description is from Frommers
Piazza Navona, one of the most beautifully baroque sites in
all Rome, is an ocher-colored gem, unspoiled by new buildings or traffic. Its
shape results from the ruins of the Stadium of Domitian, lying underneath.
Great chariot races were once held here (some rather unusual, such as the one
in which the head of the winning horse was lopped off as it crossed the finish
line and was then carried by runners to be offered as a sacrifice by the Vestal
Virgins atop the Capitoline). In medieval times, the popes used to flood the
piazza to stage mock naval encounters. Today the piazza is packed with vendors
and street performers, and lined with pricey cafes where you can enjoy a
cappuccino or gelato and indulge in unparalleled people-watching.
In addition to the twin-towered facade of 17th-century Santa
Agnes, the piazza boasts several baroque masterpieces. The best known, in the
center, is Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi),
whose four stone personifications symbolize the world's greatest rivers: the
Ganges, Danube, della Plata, and Nile. It's fun to try to figure out which is
which. (Hint: The figure with the shroud on its head is the Nile, so
represented because the river's source was unknown at the time.) At the south
end is the Fountain of the Moor (Fontana del Moro), also by Bernini. The
Fountain of Neptune (Fontana di Nettuno), which balances that of the Moor, is a
19th-century addition.
On two
occasions I have enjoyed a dinner in the Piazza Navona, sitting outside
watching the people stroll through the Piazza.
Each time after dinner I spent time looking at the people and the
fountains my favorite of which is Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers.
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