The story goes that Ottorino Respighi sought inspiration for his compositions on the fountains of Rome in his nightly stops by the Catecumeni Fountain which takes its name from the nearby novice college and is located by the S. Maria dei Monti church, not far from Via Cavour. The church was designed in 1580 by Giacomo Della Porta who was also commissioned by Pope Sisto V, Peretti, to design the fountain eight years later.
In the same year the architect designed the elegant little fountain in Piazza Campitelli, decorated with coats of arms of the four best known families in the district who financed the works.
Della Porta was a member of a Ticinese sculptor family as Ticinese was Giovanni Fontana’s family who a few years after designed the Gianicolo Fountain. He was a pupil of Vignola, chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica and designer of the Chiesa del Gesù. He was commissioned with the construction of several fountains, Aracoeli being the most famous because of its position, built in 1598 and standing at the base of the Campidoglio slopes.
Della Porta had been chosen in 1572 by Pope Gregorio XIII, Boncompagni, to design the Fontana del Trullo, originally situated in Piazza del Popolo that was then called Piazza del Trullo; it was moved by Valadier to Piazza Nicosia in 1823. The same Pope commissioned Della Porta with the construction of the fountain for Campo de’ Fiori; this fountain, called “the Soup Bowl” by the Romans because of its shape, was taken away from the Campo after the Pontifical State was dissolved to make way for a statue in honour of Giordano Bruno and only in 1934 was is installed in Piazza della Chiesa Nuova.
Near Teatro Marcello was a fountain that was moved to the Orange Garden on the Aventino and in 1972 it was moved again to its current position in Piazza San Simeone, in front of Palazzo Lancellotti ai Coronari. On the wall surrounding the Orange Garden in the square dedicated to Pietro d’Illiria who had the Basilica of Santa Sabina built in 1936, the Fountain of Mascherone was placed, originally to be found at the Foro Romano which in ‘500 was used as cows grazing land.
The fountain, near the Arch of Settimio Severo was built with a granite basin but was dismantled at the beginning of ‘800 and its beautiful basin was placed below the Dioscuri in the square outside the Quirinale. The mascherone was fixed to a wall at Porto Leonino of the Lungara becoming a simple drinking font when it was moved again when the Tiber banks were raised to stop the flooding and put into the Council warehouses where it was subsequently recovered and installed where it can be seen today.
The fountain in Piazza delle Cinque Scole (the original five synagogues) is in need if restoration; situated near Piazza Giudea, near the Church of Santa Maria del Pianto it is called the Fountain of Tears, reconstructed in 1930 in front of Palazzo Cenci in the Jewish ghetto where it stands today. Pope Gregorio XIII wanted it so that “even the Jews could be enriched and refreshed by the waters”.