Fontana della Barcaccia

The Fontana della Barcaccia is a Baroque-style fountain found at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna. Pope Urban VIII commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a prior Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. The fountain was completed between 1627 and 1629 by Pietro possibly along with the help of his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini, especially after his father’s death in August 29, 1629. The sculptural fountain is made into the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct. Water flows from seven points of fountain: the center baluster; two inside the boat from sun-shaped human faces; and four outside the boat. The fountain is decorated with the papal coat of arms of the Barberini family as a reminder of Pope Urban VIII’s ancestry.