Piazza della Repubblica

5 minutes by walk

Piazza della Repubblica, formerly called by the Romans 'Piazza Esedra', originates from the great exedra of the Roman baths of Diocletian, whose perimeter is traced by the semicircular colonnade of the square, a late 19th century work by Gaetano Koch.

The Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri overlooks the square, obtained from a wing of the Roman baths by Michelangelo Buonarroti. In the center, you can now admire the beautiful Fountain of the Naiads, which constitutes the exhibition of the Aqua Marcia, adduced by Quinto Marcio Re in 144 BC. from the upper Aniene valley near Arsoli.

In 1885, with the approval of the Master Plan and the start of important urban renovation works, it was decided to refurbish the large Piazza dell'Esedra and it was established that the definitive Acqua Marcia exhibition should rise in the center of the square itself, in the background of the axis of Via Nazionale.

In 1897, Mario Rutelli's project for setting up the fountain was approved. Rutelli prepared four colossal bronze groups, depicting four nymphs, each of them lying on an aquatic animal, which symbolized water in its various forms: a sea horse for the Nymph of the Oceans, a water snake for the Nymph of the Rivers, a swan for the Nymph of the Lakes, a lizard for the Nymph of the underground Rivers.

The work aroused endless controversy due to the procacity of the female nudes, so much so that the fountain remained hidden for a long time inside a wooden enclosure. The controversy then focused on the central sculptural group, originally consisting of three tritons, a dolphin and an octopus (now visible in the gardens of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II) and then replaced with the current newt embracing a dolphin.