The Fontana di Trevi is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome, standing 26.3 metres high and 49.15 metres wide, filling the entire back wall of Palazzo Poli in the Trevi district. Its name most likely derives from tre vie — the three roads that historically converged at this junction in the ancient city. What visitors see today is the culmination of a design by Nicola Salvi, commissioned by Pope Clement XII in 1730 following a public competition, and completed in 1762 under Pope Clement XIII — thirty-two years after construction began. The central figure is Neptune, god of the sea, commanding a triumphal arch chariot pulled by two sea-horses guided by Tritons: one horse is calm, the other wild, symbolising the two moods of the ocean. Flanking Neptune in the upper niches stand allegorical figures of Abundance and Health, carved by Pietro Bracci and Filippo della Valle respectively.
The fountain's deeper history stretches back to 19 BC, when the Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa ordered the construction of the Aqua Virgo, one of ancient Rome's eleven aqueducts, to supply water to the thermal baths he built near the Pantheon. According to legend, a young virgin girl led Agrippa's soldiers to the source of the water — hence the name. That same aqueduct, largely intact underground, still feeds the Trevi Fountain today after more than two millennia of continuous use. Earlier fountains marked the terminal point of the Aqua Virgo for centuries before Salvi's design, including a modest basin commissioned by Pope Nicholas V in the 1450s and a later design by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which was abandoned in 1640 after the death of his patron, Pope Urban VIII. Traces of Bernini's preparatory excavations are said to remain beneath the piazza.
The fountain achieved worldwide cultural fame through Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita, in which Anita Ekberg wades through its waters in an evening gown — a scene that transformed the Trevi into a global symbol of Roman sensuality and freedom. The tradition of throwing a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand to guarantee a return to Rome is traced to the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain. Today, an estimated €1.5 million in coins is tossed into the basin every year; since 2001, the proceeds have been collected by the city and donated to Caritas Rome to fund social programmes for the poor. The fountain underwent a major restoration between 2014 and 2015, sponsored by the fashion house Fendi for €2.18 million, which cleaned the travertine marble, repaired cracks, and upgraded water filtration systems.
The piazza in front of the fountain is compact and fills quickly — by mid-morning it is densely crowded. The best time to visit is just before dawn, when the baroque scenography is dramatically lit against a dark sky and the square is nearly empty. Note that sitting on the fountain's edge or wading in the water is prohibited and enforced with fines of up to €450. The nearest Metro station is Barberini on Line A, a short walk away. If visiting in summer, approach from Via della Stamperia rather than Via del Tritone to avoid the worst of the tourist crowds on the main access routes.
