Fontana della Barcaccia

Piazza di Spagna, at the foot of the Spanish Steps A family piece: the fountain came out of a collaboration between Gian Lorenzo and his father, Pietro Bernini. Romans fondly call it the Barcaccia because it looks like a half-sunken boat, a design probably inspired by the Tiber's floods. It sits lower than the street, a clever way to make the weak water pressure here work, which is why you look down into it rather than up at it. You can see it free at any hour, but early morning is the only time it is not ringed by people sitting on the steps.