Back Story of Garden Fountains

Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classical Greek texts into Latin. It was important for him to beautify the city of Rome to make it worthy of being known as the capital of the Christian world. At the behest of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a damaged aqueduct which had transported clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was renovated starting in 1453. The ancient Roman tradition of building an awe-inspiring commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V. The Trevi Fountain now occupies the space previously filled with a wall fountain built by Leon Battista Albert, an architect commissioned by the Pope. Adjustments and extensions, included in the repaired aqueduct, eventually provided the best site Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.