Roma - Fontane

Piazzale dell'Acqua Acetosa
Fontana dell'Acqua Acetosa

At the beginning of the 17th century (1613) Pope Paolo V. Borghese (1605-1621) had built a simple fountain in the country along the right bank of the Tiber near Tor di Quinto where there was a spring of aciduous- ferruginous water considered to be “healthy for kidneys, stomach, liver, spleen and many other illnesses.” It was, however, Pope Alessandro VII Chigi2 “the town planner”, (1655-1667) who designed and erected the beautiful all-enclosing water-lily fountain that still exists today. The plans for this delightful project, worthy of any beautiful private park, were for a long time attributed to Bernini but the fountain was really the work of the painter Andrea Sacchi in collaboration with Marcantonio de Rossi. The Acqua Acetosa fountain was abandoned at the end of the 50’s when it resulted polluted. Today this precious and elegant baroque fountain has been restored but now only normal drinking water flows from its spouts not Acqua Acetosa.