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'Fontana della Barcaccia' (English: 'Fountain of the Old Boat') is a baroque fresh-water fountain in Rome, in the Piazza di Spagna, just below the Spanish Steps, and is so named because it is in the shape of a boat.

Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, was completed in 1627 by Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The shape was chosen because, prior to the river walls being built, the Tiber often flooded and in 1598 there was a particularly bad flooding and the Piazza di Spagna was flooded up to a meter. Once the water withdrew, there remained a boat in the middle of the square.

References

Roma-SPQR

41°54′21″N 12°28′56.25″E / 41.90583°N 12.4822917°E / 41.90583; 12.4822917

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