This morning I visited the Trevi Fountain before class without knowing much about it. I was excited to see the tourist attraction that appears in countless movies where actors and actresses make a wish and toss a coin into the pool of water. I was not expecting the fountain to be so large, expanding across almost an entire building. After looking at the different statues on the fountain I had many questions. Who were these people? What is the significance of this gorgeous fountain? Can you swim in the water? Luckily, later today in class we learned that the fountain has no Christian ties, but rather it is an appreciation of the creation of aqueducts in Rome. The statues represented pagan gods and goddesses but surprisingly were not placed there for worshipping or devotion purposes. On one side of the fountain there is a smaller statue that represents abundance, as in the abundance of water because of the aqueducts. The other side features a statue that symbolizes the purity of the water from the spring it was discovered from. The building that the fountain is backed against is now home to a center for graphics today and houses the largest collection of engravings. The fountain was much more fascinating than I'd seen in movies and even more so after I learned some background and history about it. I wouldn't mind going back for a second look!
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