Aqua Traiana

(later renamed the Acqua Paola) was a 1st Century acqueduct built by Emperor Trajan from 98-117 AD.It channelled water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometers (25 mi) north-west of Rome, to Rome in ancient Roman times
but had fallen into disuse by the 17th Century.

Revival as Aqua Paola

Camillo Borghese, on his accession in 1605 as Pope Paul V, initiated work on rebuilding the Aqua Traiana, supervised from 1609 by Giovanni Fontana. At that time, the Roman suburbs west of the Tiber River, including the Vatican, were suffering from chronic water shortage. The new pope persuaded the Municipality of Rome to pay for the development
of an acqueduct to provide a better water supply to that part of the city.

In 1612, the acqueduct was completed. It was initially called the Acqua Sabbatina or Acqua Bracciano,
but was renamed Acqua Paola in honour of Paul V.

The fountain at the end of the acqueduct was referred to as "Il Fontanone" - the Big Fountain - because of its size. It was a the form of a free-standing triumphal arch constructed in white marble with granite columns on high socles. Most of the material was pillaged from the Forum of Nerva. Originally, it consisted of three large central arches, separated by columns, and a smaller one on each side. Water gushed into five basins at the base of each arch. The designer was Paul V's usual architect, Flaminio Ponzio. Among the team of sculptors involved was Ippolito Buzzi, who was responsible for the Borghese coat-of-arms, flanked by the Borghese eagle and dragon and held aloft by putti, doubtless to Ponzio's design.

Then, in 1690, Pope Alexander VIII commissioned Carlo Fontana, Giovanni's nephew, to enlarge the fountain. Carlo replaced the five small basins with an enormous single one which remains to this day.

In more recent times a small garden has been arranged, hidden behind the structure.