Piazza Barberini
Baroque piazza centred on Bernini's travertine Triton Fountain, symbol of papal power and Roman wit.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Piazza Barberini in Rome opens with the bees carved into the Triton Fountain's base, the heraldic crest of Pope Urban VIII, and the bitter joke Romans made about them in the 1640s. It follows Urban's decades-long rule, his restoration of the Acqua Felice aqueduct, and the taxes that funded both his family's palace up the hill and Bernini's commission for the piazza's centerpiece. Look for the bees still tucked between the dolphins' tails at the fountain's base.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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