Roma - Fontane

Piazza della Chiesa Nuova
Fontana detta la "Terrina"

Ordered by Pope Gregorio XIII Boncompagni (1572-1585) in about 1582, the architect Giacomo della Porta planned a fountain for Campi de’Fiori that, placed in the centre of the popular square below street level due to the low pressure of the Acqua Vergine. It was removed at the end of the 17th century and a monument to Giordano Bruno was erected. The large, oval, white marble shell decorated by four bronze dolphins (later removed and lost), inserted into a large basin is reached by two flights of four steps and was closed with a travertine lid in 1622 by Pope Gregorio XV (1621-1623). After the closure for hygienic reasons ( rubbish permanently dirtied the waters for the square was the home of a street market), the Romans called this fountain “ The Tureen”, a soup dish. In 1924, after having been removed for more than thirty years and deposited in municipal store rooms, this fountain was rebuilt in the square of the Chiesa Nuova.