If you visit St Peter's Square in Rome you'll be presented with the sight of two identical fountains within the precincts of the square itself. Surprising as it may seem, however, these fountains may be identical but they were actually constructed at different times. These majestic fountains straddling the Square’s obelisk form one of the most well-known landmarks within Rome and look exactly like a matching set – however they are separated by a few decades in terms of their construction.
The first fountain was designed and constructed by Carlo Maderno during the reign of Pope Paul V. Approximately 60 years later, during the reign of Pope Clement X, an identical fountain was commissioned to create the matching pair. This second fountain was actually constructed by the Papal architect of the time, Carlo Fontana, who was also the nephew of the original architect Maderno.
If you examine the fountains individually you’ll see that they are not, in fact, absolutely identical. For example, each fountain bears a different coat of arms which you can see if you look at the supporting pillar of the top basin. The fountain on the right bears the arms of an eagle above a dragon which is the coat of arms of the Borghese family whilst the one on the left bears the arms of an upturned six-star pyramid which is the coat of arms of the Altieri family.
The water for both of these fountains comes from the Acqua Paola which has sufficient water pressure to allow the jets to reach a constant height of sixty four feet at all times. The water is diverted through the top of each fountain in various individual jets before cascading down through two basins. If you look closely at the fountains, you’ll note that, whilst the top basins are ornately carved, the lower basins are almost austere in comparison.
The two current fountains of St Peter’s are not the first fountains that are recorded to have graced this Square. It is thought that this honor belongs to a fountain that was constructed in the reign of Pope Symmachus (498-514) and other fountains have followed through the ages in various locations across St Peter’s.
The obelisk that stands between the two fountains is also of note and plays a major part in the history of the Square and of Rome itself. It was once held that St Peter was crucified at the foot of this obelisk, although in recent years this belief has been proved wrong and a more viable location has been found . But, in itself, the obelisk is a historical treasure – it was originally brought to Rome from Heliopolis by the Emperor Caligula to be part of tribute gardens he was building to honor his mother, Agrippina, and it also played click springs a part in the bloody reign of the Emperor Nero.