Several historical documents show that in the center of the Piazza di San Pietro in Montorio there was a fountain called La Castigliana, the work of the architect and engineer Giovanni Fontana. It was built between 1612 and 1614 and was known by that name for the presence of heraldic elements of the Crown of Castile: apparently the central group had the shape of the tower of a castle with four crouching lions, one on each side, and on the upper part was surrounded by a crown. Many of its parts were not in marble but in stucco, which caused a rapid deterioration of the fountain; moreover, in 1849, it was bombed in one of the battles between the troops defending the newly proclaimed Roman Republic and the French ones. The archives report that nothing was saved. Thanks to some engravings, such as that of Giovanni Battista Falda that accompanies this text, we can observe and imagine the dimensions, the decoration and the position of the fountain in the square.

La Castigliana is part of the “URMA. Public space and contemporary landscape in the city of Rome ”by Maral Kekejian, creator and manager of cultural projects. It is part of the programming of the Real Academia de España in Rome and makes use of the collaboration of Acción Cultural Española (AC / E).

Sunday 12 December 2021. Hours: from 11 to 13. Place: Piazza San Pietro in Montorio. Free access activities.