The fountain of the four rivers in Rome

THE FOUNTAIN OF THE FOUR RIVERS IN ROME

In Piazza Navona, commissioned by Pope Innocent X, is the Fountain of the four rivers ( Fontana dei fiumi ). Begun in 1648, Bernini's travertine fountain includes rocks,animals, and four enormous marble figures personifying the four continents.
The Danube ( Europe ) is associated with a horse, the Rio della Plata (Americas ) is seen with an armadillo, the Nile ( Africa ) sits with a lion, and the Ganges ( Asia ) is shown with a snake.

The Danube adjusts Innocent X's coat of arms, the Rio della Plata holds up his hand to shield himself from the supposedly unstable church of sant' Agnese ( based on a false claim that Bernini did not trust the workmanship of the rival architect, Borromini ), the Nile covers his head beacsue its source was unknown, and the Ganges steers the ship of the Church.
An Egyptian obelisk, transferred from the circus of Maxentius, stands atop the fountain of the four rivers and is crowned a dove ( representing the pope's coat of arms).
The meaning of the Four river fountain, not unlike the ancient rivers of paradise, suggests the new Rome, ruled by Pope Innocent X, will dominate again the world, not through force but through faith.

I think that now it's interesting to ask ourselves were the water of the fountain of the four rivers comes from.

well.....

this is the same water that few minutes before fed the fountain at the bottom of the spanishs steps and the famous Trevi Fountain.

DID YOU KNOW IT ?

This famous roman acqueduct is the one built by Agrippa son in law of Augustus in the year 19 AD when this famous admiral of the roman navy decided to sponsor the first public thermal bath complex in Rome.

The entire piazza Navona with its fountain of the four rivers in the middle is one of the most beautifully baroque sites in all Rome and it is unspoiled by the new buildings and by the traffic. The elliptical shape of the square results from the Stadium of Domitian, the ruins of which lie underneath the present constructions.

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