Fontana di Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, Baroque fountain in Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, Italy.
The fountain features a rectangular travertine basin with semicircular projections on its shorter sides, decorated with ornamental masks and positioned at the base of the ancient Massenzio column.
Completed in 1615 by architect Carlo Maderno, the fountain was built using a branch of the Acqua Felice aqueduct and originally featured decorative dragons and eagles representing papal heraldic symbols.
The column above the fountain is called the Column of the Peace because it comes from the Basilica of Maxentius, then known as the Temple of Peace. Pope Paul V had it moved here in 1614 and topped with a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary.
Located in the heart of Rome's Monti district, the fountain is easily accessible by public transportation and stands elevated on four steps approximately two meters above street level.
The fountain stands at the foot of the Column of Peace, the only column surviving from the Basilica of Maxentius, which Pope Paul V had re-erected in 1614 by Carlo Maderno to carry a bronze statue of the Virgin. The column's name comes from the basilica's old identification as the Temple of Peace.
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