This is the so-called Fontana delle Tiare, one of the fountains designed by Pietro Lombardi in 1927 to symbolize the districts of Rome. Here is a way to get to know the Eternal City more deeply through a small work of art, a curiosity of Rome that is able to tell us a long story. 

The Fountain of the Tiaras is located close to the famous Passetto, the fortified passage used for centuries by the Popes to safely reach the St Angel Castle, and nearby to the majestic Bernini colonnade that embraces St. Peter's Square. To be even more precise, the Fontana delle Tiaras is located near Porta Sant’Anna, the archway opened on the walls of the Passetto in 1933. As you can see, observing the large keys and tiaras in travertine, the fountain indicates in particular the figure of the pontiff, whose residence is a few meters from where it is located. We are, in fact, in Italian territory but at a very short distance from the Vatican City. In reality, however, more than the Pope, the fountain symbolizes the Borgo district, the historic Roman district that rises all around the Vatican. And it is here that, in one way or another, we can really take into consideration the popes who, with their presence, combined with that of St. Peter's, attracted so many people to found a real neighborhood!

The story basically begins with the construction of St. Peter's Basilica during the 4th century AD, at the behest of Emperor Constantine. Just as it still does today (the basilica is visited by around 10 million tourists and pilgrims a year), this sacred place attracted thousands, if not millions of people annually. A continuous and incessant flow, a wave that in particular cases (like Easter or Christmas) becomes almost unstoppable. For about 1500 years, until the construction of the modern bridges, the shortest way to reach St. Peter's Basilica was the one that passed through Ponte Elio, which today is called St Angel Bridge. Imagine, then, that little by little many of those pilgrims, perhaps tired after days if not months of walking, had many needs: a bed to sleep on, a hot meal, perhaps a cheaply bought relic, simple directions, and so on... so it was that, especially during the 9th century AD, to meet the numerous foreign pilgrims arriving in Rome, the so-called Scholae came almost independently to organize. They were nothing more than associations, whose members were pilgrims of the same nationality, whose sole purpose was to assist the fellow countrymen of the associates. Thus various Scholae were born, such as that of the Franks or the Saxons. Obviously, for convenience, they were built near the Vatican, near St. Peter's Basilica.

Moreover imagine that the Scholae usually had a church and a hospital at their disposal, at least. With Leo IV, then, what had now become a real multi-ethnic neighborhood had a status all its own, after the pontiff, in the ninth century, protected the area with its imposing walls. From here arose the Leonine City, which enjoyed some privileges and almost a sort of extraterritoriality. Borgo will then officially become one of the districts of Rome in 1586, at the behest of Pope Sixtus V. The next time, therefore, that you want to drink a little water from this beautiful fountain, with its three semicircular shaped pools. shell, with its beautiful travertine keys and tiaras, remember all this. How this little fountain is, after all, reminding you of one of the most historic districts of Rome (just like the Fountain of Books does)...