Fontana di Piazza Nicosia Fontana di Piazza Nicosia The Fontana di Piazza Nicosia is a fountain in Rome, Italy, is the first of the modern fountains of Rome. It is located in the square with the same name. Built in 1572 after the re-activation of the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, it was designed by Giacomo della Porta, and was originally located in the Piazza del Popolo around the obelisk. In 1823, however, after the fountain was judged to be too small for the size of the piazza, Giuseppe Valadier designed a new fountain for the Popolo, that consisted of four mini-fountains of lions surrounding the
Piazza Colonna of the Italian government. The east side is taken up by the 19th century public shopping arcade Galleria Colonna (since 2003 Galleria Alberto Sordi), the south side is taken up by the flank of Palazzo Ferrajoli, formerly the Papal post office, and the little Church of Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi (1731-35). The west side is taken up by Palazzo Wedekind (1838) with a colonnade of Roman columns taken from Veii. The piazza has been a monumental open space since Antiquity; the temple of Marcus Aurelius stood on the site of Palazzo Wedekind (TCI). The fountain in the piazza