Fontana del Fiocco a Villa Borghese

The fountain was built in 1830 by the architect Luigi Canina with the main function of creating a backdrop to the monumental entrance on Piazzale Flaminio, at the end of the long avenue shaded by holm oaks.

The fountain consists of a large circular cliff that rises up to create a mound on which rests a masonry arch decorated on the inside with a statue of Aesculapius and on the sides, leaning against the pillars, with two draped female statues, identifiable as the so-called Filatrice and Juno, from the sculptural heritage of the villa (replaced with copies in 1986; the originals are kept in the Museo Canonica). The attic is surmounted by an eagle made of cocciopesto (a mixture of fragments of tiles and amphorae). At the centre of the rocky basin, on another cliff, is a large round marble basin with a gush of water that must have originally been spectacular, so much so that the fountain was named the Fountain of the Flake, as well as the Fountain of Aesculapius, after the statue in the centre of the arch.