Contribute to the recovery of the Fountain
The Fontana del Navigante, the lighthouse of the ancient port of Ripetta will shine again thanks to you too!
The Fontana del Navigante, located in front of the entrance to our building, together with the two columns that function as hydrometers to measure the level of the Tiber floods, constitute the legacy of the Porto di Ripetta or Porto Clementino.
In the early eighteenth century, the Port of Ripetta represented the entrance to the city par excellence, both for goods and for sailors who descended the Tiber from Umbria and upper Lazio. Dedicated to the city’s river traffic, the Port of Ripetta was inaugurated on August 16, 1704 and built by Alessandro Specchi with the collaboration of Carlo Fontana.
Fontana più stella draws inspiration for its name from the Fontana del Navigante. Commissioned by Pope Clemente Albani XI to honor the semicircle overlooking the Port of Ripetta, it was a refreshment point for all sailors arriving or passing through. A wrought iron lamppost, decorated with the eight-pointed papal star, stood on the top. Similar to a small lighthouse, it facilitated the night navigation of boats on the Tiber River and represented an “immediate watering hole for the loading porters”.
It was the work of Filippo Bai, attributable to the late Baroque style. It was structured in a simple oval basin with a rounded edge, without any ornamentation, containing a second vaguely cylindrical basin with grooved edges to obtain a pleasant rain effect from the water that fell into the larger basin. In the center a series of sculptural effects inspired by the large monumental fountains built in the previous century: a rocky group with two dolphins with crossed tails between which is placed a large shell, while on the top of the rocks is sculpted the trimontium with the eight-pointed star, the heraldic symbol of Pope Clement XI. On the opposite side of the shell is a large papal star.
Wouldn’t it be nice to reactivate the Fontana del Navigante? Wouldn’t it be nice to relive the atmosphere of those days of the early eighteenth century and those nights of happy refreshment illuminated by the moon high over Rome and the lantern of that fountain?
We at Fontana più Stella want to do our part.
That’s why for every direct booking from our website, we have decided to donate a percentage to Spazio più forma, a non-profit association for the enhancement of spaces and places, which will take care of financing the restoration of the fountain.
