The Fountain of the Caryatids

The Quiriti Fountain of the Caryatids

After your visit to St.Peter’s or the Museum, have a quiet lunch on a bench in the Piazza Quiriti on the Via Virgilio, about six blocks north of the Castel Sant’Angelo. Only locals here. Quirites was the Roman name for the individual citizen, taken from the Sabine word for spear or perhaps their capital of Cures.

The fountain dates to 1924 and Mussolini, the sculptor Attilio Selva, a gifts to Rome’s newest rione, Prati (which means fields).This was a rural area until 1870 when the new government promoted immigration to the city.Prati is boring, except for this remarkable fountain.The naked caryatids were a deliberate affront to the pope.Mussolini insisted that the caryatids be muscular, in keeping with the fascist theme of power. The nakedness attracted thousands to the unveiling, which had to be postponed more than once due to the outcries of the clergy.