Trevi Fountain in Rome

Trevi Fountain is filled with history, breathtaking sculptures and pop culture. The name of the fountain is derived from its intersection of "tre vie" meaning three roads. The fountain’s construction began in 1730, commissioned by Pope Clement XII to Italian architect and sculptor, Nicolo Salvi.

Unfortunately, neither the pope or the architect lived to see it in its completion. Salvi´s work was only half finished when he died in 1751. Giuseppe Pannini replaced Salvi as architect and the fountain was inaugurated in 1762 with several modifications to Salvi’s original designs. Trevi Fountain depicts the god of the sea, Neptune, atop a shell-shaped chariot pulled by horses. The personalities of Neptune’s horses illustrate the temperament of the sea. The ocean’s waters can be blue, calm and tranquil one day; while grey and stormy during another. The horses represent this paradox of the deep.

The statues, Abundance and Health adorn Neptune on the right and left of him. According to legend, visitors in Rome who throw a coin into the fountain’s basin will return to Rome. Two coins thrown in means you will fall in love, while three represents you will marry in Rome. The throwing a coin legend increased, following the film, "Three Coins in the Fountain" (1954). Other filming in Rome made the Trevi Fountain a focal point in their storyline.

"La Dolce Vita" (1960) has one of the most famous scenes in cinema, in which Anita Ekberg plunges into the fountain, inviting Marcello Mastroianni to do the same. More recently, "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" has Hillary Duff tossing a coin in the fountain. It is estimated that over three thousand dollars is tossed into the Trevi Fountain every day. The coins are gathered with proceeds aimed to feeding those living in poverty in Rome.