A Tourist in Rome - Fountain of the Jail
| Location: | 41.88804, 12.46737 At the intersection of Via Goffredo Mameli and Via Luciano Manara, west of Santa Maria in Trastevere |
| Metro: | None, perhaps Tram 3 from Piramide, or Tram 8 from Largo di Torre Argentina |
| Time: | 10 minutes |
| Cost: | Free |
| Hours: | Viewable at any time |
The Fountain of the Jail was completed in 1587 by Domenico Fontana for the gardens of the Pope Sisto V's residence, the lavish Villa Peretti, on the Esquiline Hill. It was dismantled in the late 1800s to make room for housing and the first Termini station, reconstructed as a backdrop for the new Via Genoa, dismantled again in 1923, and reassembled in the location it now occupies. It is a great niche bordered by two pilasters supporting a pediment decorated with garlands and lion heads. At the base of the two pilasters, two small basins collect water that flows from two taps, and a lion's head in the central fan throws water into a pool at street level. The name 'Fountain of the Jail' is derived from a marble figure of a prisoner with his hands tied, at the center, which has been lost in all the dismantlings, storages, and reconstructions of this fountain. The fountain was restored in 2005-2006.
