Fountains of Rome

I'm staying with a new host now in Rome, however, today is my last day here and I head to another part of town later this afternoon.

Yesterday I took the bus into town and stopped off just near the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin that houses the Bocca della Verità, a large stone sewer cover (I guess it was used as a fountain at some point too) depicting the visage of a some pagan god, made famous by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. (See to the left.) I took a picture of it - as it is heavily touristed - but did not make a point of sticking my hand into it's mouth - and not because I was afraid of it being bitten off. I just wasn't feeling kitchy enough to succumb, and enjoyed the interior of the small church more anyhow.

Just outside there were two temples and also an actual fountain depicting two tritans bearing a shell, by Bizzaccheri. This is located near two ancient temples, one dedicated to Vesta - or perhaps Hercules - and the other to Fortuna Virilis. The former is a round temple, while the latter is a modest rectangular temple. (See all three to the right.) All this then is just a couple blocks away from the Theater of Mercellus - nephew of Augustus - which was the inspiration for the design of the Colosseum. Also at this sight is located the remaining three columns that were once part of a larger temple to Apollo.

So I had four more audio tours, the last ones, that lead me around four different neighborhoods in Rome. These tours were certainly not the best of the series (when compared to Venezia or Firenze) but were enjoyable nonetheless. I got to explore the old Jewish Ghetto, as well as three other off the beaten path districts of Rome, each holding it's own hidden sights and wonders. I think I ended up with nearly 300 photos before the day was through.

I enjoyed pizza funghi - being mushrooms of course - and a bottle of carbonated water next to the Turtle Fountain in Piazza Mattei. It's not clear who originally designed the fountain, though my tour did note that it was probably Bernini who added the turtles later for which the fountain is known. (There is a picture of it to the right.)

I ended the afternoon just after 6pm in the Piazza Navona, where Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers is located. This depicts the four great rivers of the four continents - as they were thought in Bernini's time anyhow - the Nile (Africa), the Ganges (Asia), the Danube (Europe), and Rio de la Plata (Americas). Unfortunately they are currently doing restoration work on the central fountain, and I was not able to see much of it, or take any good photos for that matter. (See what it normally looks like to the left.) From here I wandered back along the Tiber to my starting point where I was able to catch the bus back to my host's flat.

Today or perhaps tomorrow I'm going to head out and see the majority of what is Ancient Rome, including the Colosseum, forums, Palatine and Capitoline Hills, etc. Then over the next week I've got a couple more areas I would like to explore. I'm not sure that there is a whole week of things to do in Rome though, so I may be taking a daytrip to Napoli (Naples), which is about 200km south of Rome.