Tritons Taming Hippocampus - Trevi Fountain - Roma, Italy
Posted by: denben
N 41° 54.052 E 012° 29.002
33T E 291248 N 4641832
The Trevi Fountain is one of the most famous fountains in the world. It is located in the Rione of Trevi, in the Piazza di Trevi, and is leaning against the Palazzo Poli. The Tritons taming hippocampus are part of the fountain.
Waymark Code: WM114WJ
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 08/16/2019
Views: 14
"The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) was designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others, between 1732 and 1762. Standing 26.3 metres (86 ft) high and 49.15 metres (161.3 ft) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome. The fountain has appeared in several notable films, including Roman Holiday, Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, the eponymous Three Coins in the Fountain, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, and Sabrina Goes to Rome." (
visit link)
In the center of the fountain, a large niche framed by columns houses the god of the sea (Oceanus or Neptune) who leads a chariot, shaped like a shell, pulled by two hypocamps that two Tritons are trying to tame (one of the horses is peaceful while the other seems agitated, to symbolize the two aspects of the sea).
"Triton is a Greek god, the messenger of the sea. He is the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, god and goddess of the sea respectively, and is herald for his father. He is usually represented as a merman which has the upper body of a human and the tail, soft dorsal fin, spiny dorsal fin, anal fin, pelvic fins and caudal fin of a fish, "sea-hued"; according to Ovid "his shoulders barnacled with sea-shells"." (
visit link)
"A hippocampus is a legendary creature of Greek mythology. The Hippocampi appear in the procession of Poseidon, along with tritons, aquatic dragons, and giant sea monsters. They are horses up to the belly, and their body ends with a fish tail. They can have hoofs or palmate paws, and instead of the mane there may be a membrane or algae crest." (
visit link)