In the area of the City on the left bank of the river Tiber, not far from the Jewish borough, there is one of those unexpected little treasures that make walking in Rome so interesting.
In a small square called Piazza Mattei there is a small fountain with, among other decorations, four turtles in the upper part (said to be added later by Bernini). This little fountain is the object of one of Rome's nicest legends: The young Duke Mattei, from one of the noblest Roman families was engaged to the daughter of a rich bourgeois of Rome, but this lad also had the passion of gambling, and, not long before the wedding date, he lost all of his properties on an unlucky night playing cards. When the future bride's father heard this news, he refused to let the guy marry his daughter. The young Duke Mattei, to impress his future father-in-law, and to show that a member of a Roman noble family could enjoy unlimited credit despite being penniless, had that fountain built in just one night. The girl's father, having no other choice but to recognize the Duke's honorability, consented to the wedding, but had the window of his palace overlooking the fountain closed forever with bricks, in order not to be reminded of his defeat. The window is still closed nowadays.
More recent historical investigation found out that this is nothing more than a really nice legend: in fact the palace was built about 30 years after the fountain, which was ordered by the Government after the extension of the Vergine Aqueduct (the one that also supplies the famous Trevi Fountain)...
In a small square called Piazza Mattei there is a small fountain with, among other decorations, four turtles in the upper part (said to be added later by Bernini). This little fountain is the object of one of Rome's nicest legends: The young Duke Mattei, from one of the noblest Roman families was engaged to the daughter of a rich bourgeois of Rome, but this lad also had the passion of gambling, and, not long before the wedding date, he lost all of his properties on an unlucky night playing cards. When the future bride's father heard this news, he refused to let the guy marry his daughter. The young Duke Mattei, to impress his future father-in-law, and to show that a member of a Roman noble family could enjoy unlimited credit despite being penniless, had that fountain built in just one night. The girl's father, having no other choice but to recognize the Duke's honorability, consented to the wedding, but had the window of his palace overlooking the fountain closed forever with bricks, in order not to be reminded of his defeat. The window is still closed nowadays.
More recent historical investigation found out that this is nothing more than a really nice legend: in fact the palace was built about 30 years after the fountain, which was ordered by the Government after the extension of the Vergine Aqueduct (the one that also supplies the famous Trevi Fountain)...
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