Fountain of the Cannonballs

1927 fountain designed by architect Lombardi.The cannon balls recall the fortress of Castel S.Angelo.This fountain along with others built in that year was part of a program to enhance and identify the various districts of Rome.

In Via di Porta Castello, past the open arches of the Passetto, going in the opposite direction to Via della Conciliazione, you can see the Fountain of the Cannon Balls. It is located inside a small closed travertine arch and consists of a mask placed in the center of a pyramid made of superimposed stone balls. From the mouth of the mask comes the cinnamon that pours the water into the lower basin-waterer. It is one of the local fountains that, in the Fascist era, were commissioned to the Roman architect Pietro Lombardi with the obligation to make them linked, in the subject chosen to represent them, to the local context, using references to the characteristic of the area or to the district coats of arms. This is the fountain dedicated to the Borgo district: the subject recalls the nearby fortress of Castel Sant'Angelo with its pyramidal pile of bullets. Of the commissioned local fountains, a total of nine were built in the period between 1926 and 1929.

Fontana delle Palle di Cannone_The Fountain of the Giulelelor de Tun- via Porta di Castelo is attached Vatican Universities LUMSA The fountain made with cannonballs alludes to the tumultuous events in Castel Sant'Angelo which is two steps away is the work of the artist Pietro Lombardi who completed in 1927.

One of the beautiful Allusive Fountains, created in the various districts of Rome; in particular, this dates back to the first half of the twentieth century by the artist Pietro Lombardi and the cannon balls arranged in a pyramid are an allusion to the nearby fortress of Castel Sant'Angelo, all under a beautiful brick and travertine arch with the coat of arms of the Municipality of Rome set in the middle. Definitely worth seeing.

The Fountain of the Cannon Balls is located in the evocative XIV district (Borgo), in via di Porta Castello, near the arches present in the Passetto that gave the street its name. The fountain is in travertine the most representative stone of Rome, realized together with several others by Pietro Lombardi in the 20s of the last century (see the special note in the margin). The working fountain with drinking water is framed by a round arch in travertine, crowned with bricks in whose apex is placed the emblem of the municipality of Rome, with the classic acronym (SPQR from the Latin Senatvs PopvlvsQve Romanvs - the Senate and Roman people). Inside the niche formed by the aforementioned arch is the composition, at the center recessed in the façade there are nine balls in the first row and others placed behind the whole with a pyramid shape representing cannon balls of the nearby Castel Sant'Angelo, with the center a mask on whose mouth is inserted a cinnamon from which the water that spills onto a simple tank comes out, from which the water then pours onto a collection tray almost on the edge of the ground (the base of the fountain has a shape rounded and slightly raised). The composition is completed by two hemispheres placed at the sides, from which water is poured through the spouts on as many small basins. Overall, the fountain is pleasant and the state of conservation is discreet. NOTE On the RIONI fountains: They are very characteristic and are adorned with the emblem or the characteristic symbols of the district they represent were commissioned in 1926 by the governor of Rome, and the subsequent assignment was assigned to Pietro Lombardi, the architect who had already built the fountain of the Amphorae of Testaccio, he performed them in about three years. Here is the list of the remaining fountains: 1) FONTANA DELLE ANFORE - R. TESTACCIO 2) TIMON FOUNTAIN - R. RIPA 3) FOUNTAIN OF THE BARREL - R. TRASTEVERE 4) FOUNTAIN OF TIARE - R. BORGO 5) FOUNTAIN OF THE CANNON BALLS - R. BORGO 6) FOUNTAIN OF BOOKS - R. Sant'Eustacchio 7) FOUNTAIN OF THE ARTISTS - R. CAMPO MARZIO 8) PIGNA FOUNTAIN - R. PIGNA 9) FONTANA DEI MONTI - R. MONTI (via S. Vito - Esquilino district) FOUNTAINS NOTE IN ROME The fountains in Rome, are one of the characteristic elements of the eternal city, there are those who say that it is the city with the most fountains in the world. They have been an important element since ancient Rome, today in addition to the typical cast-iron fountains called "nasoni" (around 2000), there are very beautiful ones located in the most disparate places, such as villas, squares, streets, courtyards and more. Some have been created by the greatest artistic geniuses of all times, a name above all Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The importance they have in street furniture is also witnessed by the admiring looks of tourists and by the fact that they also have the social utility of quenching thirst after perhaps a long walk in the sun.

Just beyond the open arches in the Passetto I like to cross Borgo, now more than ever, with the few tourists and the little bars at half service. It is a different, less contemporary Rome, you can feel it. Beyond Porta Castello there is the fountain, and it is useless to point out the pitiful state of abandonment in which it falls and the disheartening decay that reigns around it. A pile of stacked stone balls, the head of a faun under a travertine arch and the worn coat of arms of the Municipality of Rome. Perhaps it is a metaphor, the latest descent of the "franzosi da 'sti laces". Which made the dream of the Roman democrats vanish, putting "er Papa Re" on the throne. This is also why there has always been a very heated rivalry between Italy and France. “Er comparison, it goes without saying, it doesn't hold up. Paris may also be beautiful, but nothing to what it sees with the capital ".

Located in via di porta castello is located under a pointed arch in the center of the coat of arms of Rome, the fountain consists of a mask and cannonballs in reference to the fortress of Castel S.Angelo. Made by Pietro Lombardi in 1927.