This small Roman fountain with the strange name "Babuino" does not have the fabulous popularity of the luxurious Trevi Fountain. Tourists wonder who the fountain statue represents when they meet it on the Via del Babuino. It is so unusual that it is invariably remembered.
Satyr - Silenus - Babuino
To see the figurine of this imposing half-goat, half-man, a tourist needs to take a leisurely stroll along Via del Babuino. Finding the street is easy. It is one of the three street-beams that come out of Poppolo Square. You need to choose the one that lies closer to the park of the Villa Borghese and leads to another famous Roman square - Spain.
It is important not to rush, otherwise you can easily slip past the small fountain decorated with this intricate statue. Initially, this mythical character was named. Thus, the forever tipsy, fat and hairy, completely ugly companion of the god Dionysus (Bacchus). The aged Satyr was given a name.
A is the nickname given to this small statue of a mythical deity by the witty Romans. It was born by association with the appearance of a monkey, thickly overgrown with wool. A lucky, in the opinion of the townspeople, nickname firmly stuck to the shabby statue of the ugly old man Silenus. And then it stuck to the street and became its official name -.
"Parents": three popes and one merchant
The fountain appeared in Rome in the 16th century and at least four people were directly involved in this. Three of them are Popes and one rich merchant:
Pope Pius IV. His role boils down to the fact that he introduced a rule according to which a citizen was allowed to use water in unlimited quantities. But on one condition - it was necessary to build a fountain with our own funds for general use. Such urban water sources were called "semi-public" in Rome
Pope Pius V gave permission to install the fountain
Pope Gregory XIII ordered to decorate the bowl of the fountain with a sculpture
Patrizio Grandi is the enterprising Ferrara merchant who was allowed to build the fountain. A wealthy merchant built it and received the right to freely take water in any quantity for irrigation on his farm
Antique sculpture by that time was the choice fell on Silenus due to the fact that this wine-hungry pagan god was considered the patron saint of springs. The subsequent history of this non-trivial structure is also full of interesting details.
How a mythological god confused a priest and became a "talking statue"
The image of Silenus provoked a strange reaction from Cardinal Dezza. In a mythological deity, he fancied a Catholic saint. Therefore, when passing by, he always bowed respectfully to this sculpture. This behavior of the half-blind priest gave rise to gossip and ridicule of the Romans. The townspeople began to hang on the statue of Babuino - tablets with anonymous rhymes condemning the Pope and the priesthood, and pamphlets criticizing the authorities. So the figure of Silenus the Baboon became one of the six Roman "congregations of the witty".
Baboon has criticized the local authorities for centuries. Later, instead of tablets, unknown authors used a more modern method - the wall behind the statue was thickly painted with graffiti. But in 2007 the "talkative" fountain was silenced. The people's "wall newspaper" was banned. The graffiti was removed and the wall was cleaned and painted with anti-vandal paint. The city administration decided that such inscriptions should not be located on an elite street with expensive shops and exquisite art galleries.
Separation Babuino with a pool
Fountain adventures have happened before. In 1738 it was pushed into a niche due to the construction of a new large palace so that it would not interfere with the passage. And in 1877, Babuino was dismantled and separated from his pool - the colorful statue was moved to the courtyard of the neighboring palazzo, and the granite bath was installed in another fountain. But this is not the end of the fountain's adventures.
Happy end
Baboon was not forgotten. In 1957, the demands of the Romans led to the fact that the pool was returned to its original street. The fountain with the figure of an ugly but beloved creature was installed near the church of Sant Atanasio dei Greci on Via del Babuino. The separation between the statue and the pool ended with a happy reunion.
The crafty Babuino, leaning on his elbow, is still reclining on a boulder, from which two streams of water flow. He sly glances at passers-by peering at him and does not even try to hide a grin behind his fluffy long mustache.
Address of the church of Sant'Atanasio, next to which is the Babuino fountain
Chiesa di San Atanasio dei Greci, Via del Babuino, 149. Fontana del Babuino. Calle del Babuino, 149. Babuino Fountain.
