Also Known as Converts' Fountain
Piazza Madonna dei Monti
Following the old conduit of the Aqua Felice, we now descend from the large and airy Piazza del Quirinale to a completely different area and environment, the heart of the extremely crowded district known as "Monti." Here, alongside the church of Madonna dei Monti (Madonna of the Hills), in a narrow little square, there is a fountain on an octagonal base with four steps and a travertine pool meagerly decorated with crests of Sixtus V alternating with the shield of the Roman People. In the center, two basins of different sizes are raised one above the other and, on the underside of the larger one, water pours into the pool from four masks vaguely resembling the huge masks of the fountains at the Pantheon and in Villa Borghese. An inscription, now partly illegible, records a restoration at the time of Innocent XI (1680) and another at the expense of the City Authorities, in 1880.
This fountain, now in such a dilapidated condition, was constructed in 1588-89 to a rather mean and simple design by Jacopo della Porta. The fountain was probably inspired by the older style of fountain such as the one in Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, which had not yet been rebuilt.
The simplicity, and perhaps also the haste with which the fountain was built, were no doubt due in part to the extremely crowded zone crammed with poor houses; the vicinity of the Neophytes or Converts' College -- which already existed in the buildings adjacent to the church -- was another determining factor in choosing this site. In fact, some early 17th century prints use the name "Converts' Fountain."
