Roma - Fontane

Piazza della Rotonda
Fontana del Pantheon

In 1575 Giacomo Della Porta, under orders from Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni, designed elegant plans for a fountain to place in the centre of the square. Leonardo Sormani carried out the work composed of a multi-linear shell raised on three travertine steps, enriched by four groups of dolphins and masks with a central water basin with jets. In 1711, following the orders of Pope Clemente XI Albani, the architect Filippo Barignoni substituted the basin with a rock on which was placed the obelisk of Ramses II, six metres tall and decorated at the base by four dolphins carved by Luigi Amici.