Trevi Fountain: Symbol of Rome
In Rome, the capital of Italy, the world-famous Fontana de Trevi, also known as the Trevi Fountain, is one of the places you should definitely visit.
Trevi Fountain is a fountain with a pool in the center and various statues. It is customary to throw coins into this pool. This custom started with the 1954 movie Three Coins in the Fountain and later became a tradition that every tourist can’t pass the fountain without throwing a coin.
Turn your back to the pool and throw the coin backwards over your left shoulder with the thumb of your right hand. It is believed that those who can do this will come back to Rome. It is worth mentioning that the coins thrown are collected by the officials at various intervals and used for social responsibility projects in the city and some of them are used for the poor.
The Trevi Fountain is said to be named after the three streets around it and also because it is believed that three underground water sources gather at this point. This fountain was commissioned by the sculptor Nicola Salvi by Clemens XII, who was a pope in Italy. The construction of the fountain, which started in 1732, was completed in 30 years with the contribution of many artists.
Of course, it is not only the pool full of water that makes the fountain famous. Above the fountain, we see the figure of Neptune, the god of the ocean, in the center, surrounded by sea messengers called Triton. Neptune is being pulled by seahorses on a seashell.
The charging horse on the left symbolizes the fierceness of the sea, while the calm horse on the right expresses the calmness of the sea. To the left and right of Neptune are two statues of women. The woman with a basket on the left symbolizes fertility and the woman with a snake on the right symbolizes health.
According to the legend, a beautiful girl appears in front of the Roman soldiers returning from the campaign and thirsting for death, and points to the place and tells them that they can reach the water they are looking for after digging here. The Roman soldiers dug where she pointed and found the source of the Trevi Fountain. The statue on the right above the Trevi Fountain tells this story.
The Trevi Fountain, whose illumination at night is as spectacular as it is during the day, is known as the Fountain of Love by the Turks. In 1960, the movie La Dolce Vita was translated into Turkish, which caused Trevi Fountain to be memorized as Love Fountain, but do not use Trevi Fountain as Love Fountain.
The area where the fountain is located is very small and it is very popular. So the fountain is very crowded. It is one of the places where you should take extra care of the valuables you have with you.
During our trip to Rome in 2015, the Trevi Fountain was under renovation because some parts of the fountain had been removed by themselves. Restored for €2 million, the fountain is open in 2016 and is an important structure that should definitely be on your list of places to visit in Rome.
