Each time we venture out in the city, I return to the Air B&B stay with a near-dead battery. Since arriving in Rome three weeks ago, I began taking pictures. Having since shared hundreds and have a few hundred to go, the only way to properly share this experience with you is by breaking them up into sections. From the Vatican, to cobble-stone roads, to the more than 900 churches lining the streets, holiday festivities, buskers, and people photography in general, fitting all of them together in one article just isn’t possible.

This part of the tour features 92 photos I’ve taken of the water features, statues, and monuments we’re surrounded by, some dating back thousands of years, located everywhere you turn to look—they’re everywhere.

The first photo you’re about to see is the 86 foot tall by 161 feet wide Trevi Fountain—a tourist attraction that draws more than seven million visitors annually designed by artist and architect, Nicola Salvi, in the 18th century. The location of the fountain is to commemorate the Roman Empire’s original pure water source, the Acqua Vergine, dating back to 19 BC. The second photo is of the same water source, less than a mile down the aqueduct still serving Rome its water supply, originally constructed in the 19th century—the Ponte Garibaldi.

Water Features

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Rome, Italy, and all of its #history is known worldwide for many things, however, one you may not have heard until now is “La Regina dell’Agua” meaning the Queen Of Water. The drinking water in Rome that flows through the city begins in the mountains and, by the time it reaches Rome, it’s pure, uncontaminated, and free from any salt or chemical additives.

This next image is a block of nine photos taken of the 2,500 drinking fountains in Rome. The majority of them, though not all as you’ll see in a moment, are made of cast iron called Nasoni’s and are similar in appearance to a fire hydrant. Each of them, regardless of their appearance, are piped directly into the aqueduct system I mentioned earlier and have a steady stream of pure, safe drinking water flowing from their spout. Both locals and visitors are commonly seen filling up their water bottles, camel-packs, etc.

In this next section are the remaining water features I’ve pictured while touring Rome. With more than 2,000 fountains in total, three weeks just isn’t enough time to see them all, we barely scratched the surface. All with the exception of a few of the following fountains are operational—you’ll notice the first one isn’t and obviously hasn’t been for quite some time. Immediately following it are the two fountains on either side of the Vatican entrance followed by another 28 fountains located all around Rome.

No location is off limits in this city—extravagant fountains, the majority of which are centuries, even thousands of years old, are seen at busy street intersections, gardens, court yards, schools, business centers, bus stops, churches, residential entrances, window sills, alley ways, “everywhere.”

Statues & Monuments

Not all of the following statues & monuments are identifiable, however, a few are. Some still have their identification inscribed on them that are legible by zooming in—the majority of them have since lost their inscription due to time having stood in their current location for centuries.

In this first series are nine of the 12, six on each side, statues lining the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II bridge—a 19th century design built at the entrance of Castel Sant’Angelo (seen in the 9th photo) for the purpose of connecting the center of Rome to Vatican City (seen in the distance of the 5th and 7th photo). The travertine sculptures are evenly spaced at 20 feet and stand 20 feet high.

These next two statues are twice the height of the previous nine. Made of brick and marble, one on each side, they’re located at the entrance to the Ponte Principe Amedeo Savoia Aosta bridge. After 34 months of construction, the bridge was completed in 1942 (WW II era) as a connection between the Basilica of San Giovani dei Fiorentini and Via Aurelia.

These next two photos are monuments, each with several statues sculpted at the base and the second one with its own water feature. The first one, located in Piazza di Spagna near the base of Spanish Steps, is an 18th century column supporting a bronze statue of The Virgin Mary lined with fresh flowers placed daily by visitors standing nearly 50 feet tall—Column of the Immaculate Conception.

The second is called Quirinale Roma, located north-east of Rome’s city center on Quirinale Hill, at Quirinal Palace—the official residence of the Italian head of state.

These next five photos begin with the three statues that line the walkway parallel to Via dei Forti Imperiali Road with the 2,000 year old remains of Forum of Augustus in the background. The last two are at the entrance to Victor Emmanuel II Monument, one on each side, whose construction began in 1885 and took 50 years to complete.

Beginning with a statue sculpted in dedication to Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and ending with a sculpture of Marco Minghetti are the remaining 30 statues I’ve photographed while touring Rome the past three weeks. I originally wasn’t a fan of the iPhone logo seen in the background of the final image but have since decided to place it at the end because I not only captured each of the images you’ve just seen with an iPhone, but I’m also currently using one to write this article.

Thanks again for following along as we share this Roman #adventure with you. Good night from Italy—see you at the next one.

Tuesday