---
node: spot_rome_trevi_fountain
type: spot
slug: trevi_fountain
destination: dest_rome
title: "Trevi Fountain"
lead: "The Trevi is the terminus of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct running since 19 BCE, dressed in 1762 as a palace facade with the ocean breaking out of it. The figure in the central niche is Oceanus, not Neptune."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_rome_trevi_fountain.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fuente_de_Trevi,_Roma,_Italia,_2022-09-15,_DD_07.jpg"
image_author: "Diego Delso"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

Nicola Salvi won the commission in 1732 and died before it was finished; Giuseppe Pannini completed it thirty years later. The water still arrives by the ancient channel, which is why the fountain stands where it does rather than where it would look best. Coins thrown into the basin are collected nightly and go to a Catholic charity that runs food banks and shelters in the city, and taking them is theft under Roman law.

## Highlights

Come between six and eight in the morning; by ten the parapet is three deep and stays that way until midnight. The best view is from the steps on the right, above the crowd at the rail. The street behind, Via del Lavatore, still has an ordinary market and is where to eat rather than the terraces facing the water.