Rome Water Fountains

Fountain Beside The Pantheon

The ancient Pantheon of Rome was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the state religion of Ancient Rome. Its translation means the "Temple of all the Gods" and it is the best preserved of all Roman buildings and is a testament to the high standard of ancient Roman architecture. It has been in continuous use throughout its history and since the 7th century, the Rome Pantheon has been used as a Christian church.

Although the identity of the primary architect responsible for the ancient Rome Pantheon remains an uncertainty it is largely assigned to Apollodorus of Damascus. The famous painter and sculptor Michelangelo (1475-1564) upon first seeing the Pantheon in Rome, proclaimed it of "angelic and not human design.

On 6 January 1575, Ottavio Gracchi drew up the customary detailed "clauses and conditions" which soon became the Fontana del Pantheon along with the sculptor Leonardo Sormani . It was meant for the building of a fountain "in accordance with the wooden model". The eventual whereabouts of the fountain was still undecided and would later be agreed upon by the officers of the "Congregation for the Fountains". This ensured that the task given to Giacomo della Porta (1533 - 1602), the "Fountain Architect of the Roman people" and sculptor was more difficult because he had no idea of where the fountain was to be sited or what the eventual surroundings would look like.

The decorative water fountain, Fountain Beside The Pantheon, as the name suggests was eventually placed right in front of the Pantheon of Rome, on the Piazza della Rotonda. It replaced the previous fountain that Pope Eugene IV (1431-47) which the Pope did his best to decorate with a porphyry tub and two basalt lions. The material used for the construction of the basin for the fountain was superb African marble, dull grey in color, so beautiful that it seems it must have been very important to whoever ordered it for this specific fountain.