Fountain of Neptune

It seems that we have arrived at another important area in Rome, I was merely following where I was being led since I was enjoying our exploration of Rome. There were of course the mandatory shopping stops but I didn’t mind those. I could have my fun, my friends should also be allowed their own fun. This place is called Piazza Navona. As you might expect, this is another public square and it seems to be quite a large square. It was interesting since it seems to be built in a rather crowded area of Rome. Apparently there was a history behind this and one of the features here in Piazza Navona is related to that story.

There is a Fountain of Neptune here, one of three fountains here in Piazza Navona. Back then, Rome was having issues with their water supply. This led to people living closer to where the water is. Eventually, the water supply was repaired with the restoration of the aqueduct. This allowed more water flowing into Rome. With the abundance of water again, luxuries relating to water soon sprouted, naturally, they were fountains. The Fountain of Neptune was one of several fountains which were built in Rome and it became some sort of arms race where one group tries to outdo the other. This fountain features two basins with the inner on having four statues of Nereids. The center of the fountain is of Neptune the Roman god of the sea. This was built well in to the Christian era but it is nice to see references to their old religion still flourish.

[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/FountainofNeptune.kmz} zoom=19]