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Description
The fountain, designed by Antonio Muñoz and inaugurated in 1933, is part of the wider arrangement of the area between the Caelian and the Palatine foreseen by the town plan of 1931.
It is inserted in the retaining wall of the Antiquarium Comunale, on the slopes of the Caelian Hill, framed by two massive brick propylaea and topped by a basin; the vertical part consists of a travertine "portcullis" structure, along which the water flows with a cascade effect. The water flows into a large rectangular basin in antique green marble with indentations on both sides. The supporting surface is formed by three travertine steps, bordered at the corners by colonnettes, also in travertine. On the back wall, characterised by smooth peperino ashlars, there are two travertine tables on either side of the waterfall, originally decorated with fasces of lictors (later chiselled away) and the inscription S.P.Q.R. in relief in capital letters. The general composition of the space is inspired by northern European fountains known to Muñoz.
