Fontana dei Catecumeni – a café under the open sky

Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta, coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V

Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta, coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V

The fountain’s pedestal i made up of two steps, where Romans and tourists gather at all times of the day, especially in the evening, drinking beverages taken out of nearby cafes and shops. People talk, phone, read newspapers, while children play football in the afternoon, yelling and shouting. A steel gate guarding the entrance to a nearby Renaissance church serves them as goal. One can get chills when seeing that one of the statues of the saints standing in the niches is about to save „a header”. This is one of the most pleasant places in Rome, cozy, theatrical, but always full of life.

Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta, coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V
Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta
Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta
Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta
Fontana di Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, Giacomo della Porta
Fontana dell'Acqua Felice (Fontana del Mose), Domenico Fontana

The fountain’s pedestal i made up of two steps, where Romans and tourists gather at all times of the day, especially in the evening, drinking beverages taken out of nearby cafes and shops. People talk, phone, read newspapers, while children play football in the afternoon, yelling and shouting. A steel gate guarding the entrance to a nearby Renaissance church serves them as goal. One can get chills when seeing that one of the statues of the saints standing in the niches is about to save „a header”. This is one of the most pleasant places in Rome, cozy, theatrical, but always full of life.

The author of this fountain, maintained in its original form, located at Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, one of the many built during the pontificate of Pope Sixtus V, was, as with all the others, Giacomo della Porta (1589). It is made up of circular bowls and is only enriched by small decorative elements – an indispensable for Porta mascaron mask and the coat of arms of the pope depicting a lion rampant with a crosswise sash. In 1680 Pope Innocent XI ordered the fountain to be restored, leaving an inscription to commemorate this fact, while 200 years after the Senate of the city of Rome did likewise. The fountain was the first on the path of a water canal routed by Pope Sixtus V, which is finished off with another, quite a bit more extended Fontana dell’Acqua Felice.