ROMA · AQUA VIRGO · BAROQUE
From an Augustan aqueduct to a Baroque stage, the Trevi is Rome’s flowing memory. This page explores its origins, design, rituals, restorations, and the living tradition of casting a coin for a hope worth keeping.
In 19 BC, Roman engineers tapped a pristine spring outside Rome and channeled it via the Aqua Virgo aqueduct to the city’s core. Legend says a young maiden guided soldiers to the source — a story retold on Trevi’s façade in sculpted reliefs.
Why here?
The site marks the aqueduct’s terminal point, making a dramatic civic stage for water’s return to Rome.
Trevi district, Rome — terminal of the Acqua Vergine (Aqua Virgo).
Nicola Salvi (1732) → Giuseppe Pannini (1762, completion).
Roman Baroque in Tivoli travertine.
~26.3 m high × 49.15 m wide.
Early fountains crowned the aqueduct here. In the 1600s, Urban VIII asked Bernini for redesign sketches, but plans stalled. In 1732, Pope Clement XII’s public competition chose Nicola Salvi, who fused architecture and sculpture into a theatrical façade embedded in Palazzo Poli.
Giant Corinthian pilasters unify palace + fountain as one stage.
A sculpted vase reputedly blocks a once-ugly barber sign.
Travertine from Tivoli shaped into cliffs, basins, and figures.
1732
The project continues under a team of sculptors.
1751
The commanding central figure emerges from the travertine surf.
1750s
Inaugurated under Pope Clement XIII.
1762
Crack repairs, cleaning, and modern recirculating pumps.
Major conservation and new LED lighting sponsored by Fendi.
Crowd management, surveillance, and routine maintenance protect the monument.
Toss a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder to ensure a return to Rome (modern lore adds love and marriage for second and third coins). Films like Three Coins in the Fountain and La Dolce Vita made the ritual world-famous.
Click any photo to view larger.
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