Right in front of the Chiesa Nuova, seat of the Filippini and one of the greatest examples of Baroque style applied to architecture and decorative apparatus (I recommend to admire inside, just to name one, the fresco by Pietro da Cortona in decoration of the dome), there is this strange fountain. One of the many water sources that make Rome even more extraordinary.

A beautiful base, partially lowered than the floor, completely closed by this large travertine lid! It looks like a pot or, better still, a kind of tureen (hence the nickname 'Terrina '). In reality, it all originated in 1581, when the architect Giacomo della Porta designed an elegant fountain with a shelf, having in the centre a beautiful oval in white marble which was originally adorned with four bronze dolphins that were not included in the project for the Fountain of the Turtles, now in the Ghetto of Rome. Giacomo della Porta, Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni's trusted architect, was a fountain specialist. During the pontificate of the aforementioned pontiff, Della Porta restored or built dozens of fountains from scratch, providing Rome with an efficient water supply! There was only one problem: placement. This fountain, in fact, was placed at the behest of the pope in Piazza di Campo de’ Fiori, where one of the oldest traditional markets in Rome is still in business today. Imagine how, between fruit and cheese stalls, with the thousands of people crowding the market daily, cleanliness and decor were not exactly on the agenda. Dirt was everywhere, as were food scraps. Indeed, the traders used to soak their vegetables or salads in the water of the fountain, to leave them fresh!

This sad story ended at the 1622, when Pope Gregory XV Ludovisi had the travertine lid added, which we still admire today, to avoid the accumulation of dirt, and to restore dignity to this Renaissance fountain. It was on this occasion, with the cover of the fountain, that the four bronze dolphins, mentioned above, disappeared from circulation to never be found again... But the story does not end here, since at the end of the ’800, for the realization of the statue to Giordano Bruno, a monument that today stands in the center of Piazza di Campo de’ Fiori, the Fountain of the Terrina was moved from there. For years, until 1924, this small fountain was locked up in the municipal warehouses, only to be moved to where thousands of people a day can admire it today, in front of the New Church. Therefore, even a simple fountain can have an adventurous life!