(ANSA) Rome, September 22 - Bernini's famed Barcaccia
(Sunken Boat) fountain nestling at the foot of the Spanish Steps
was unveiled Monday after a one-year restoration costing 200,000
euros.
Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino, a known art lover who has been
raising billions to fund restorations in and around Rome,
presided as the fountain - whose gentle splashing famously
soothed Romantic poet John Keats as he lay in his deathbed in
his home at the foot of the Spanish Steps - was returned to
Romans and tourists alike.
Marino and the city's culture pointwoman, Giovanna
Marinelli, took the first sips of water to celebrate the event.
"It's a thrill to see the Barcaccia restored," said Marino.
The Baroque fresh-water fountain in the Piazza di Spagna in
the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its bows
was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and was completed in 1627 by
Pietro Bernini and his son, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
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