Fendi sponsors cleaning and repair of four Rome fountains.

Luxury fashion house Fendi has completed its project to clean and repair four well-known Rome fountains, with a ceremony at the Fontanone on 26 November, attended by the city's mayor Virginia Raggi.

The Fendi for Fountains project, which began with its €2 million restoration of the Trevi Fountain in 2015, saw the fashion house donate €280,000 for the cleaning and restoration of four fountains which act as the end of four important Roman acqueducts.

The fountains are the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola (Fontanone), the Acquedotto Felice (Fontana del Mosè), the Acquedotto del Peschiera (Piazzale degli Eroi) and the Acquedotto dell’Acqua Vergine (Fontana del Ninfeo al Pincio).

"Today is a great celebration for our city" - said Raggi - "with the return of four of the capital's important fountains to Romans and tourists."

The cleaning and restoration work focused mainly on the pools and lower sections of the fountains and involved removing limescale, upgrading the waterproofing and hydraulic systems, restoring missing plaster and repairing broken water jets.

The best known of the four fountains is the Fontanone, the monumental fountain built in 1612 to mark the end of the Acqua Paola aqueduct, and which featured prominently in the opening scenes of Paolo Sorrentino's Oscar-winning film La Grande Bellezza.

The Fontana del Mosè in Piazza S. Bernardo, near the church of S. Susanna, was built between 1585 and 1589 and marked the terminus of the Acqua Felice aqueduct.

The neoclassical Fontana del Ninfeo was designed by 19th-century Roman architect and urban planner Giuseppe Valadier, while the Fontana del Peschiera, in Piazzale degli Eroi, was built of stonework and was officially opened in 1949.

In 2014 Fendi paid €320,000 to clean and restore the Quattro Fontane complex of fountains near Palazzo del Quirinale.

The luxury fashion house is one of several major sponsors of Rome monuments in recent years, the best known of which is the €25 million restoration of the Colosseum by Italian shoe manufacturer Tod's.

In 2014 luxury jeweller Bulgari restored the Spanish Steps as well as dontaing €1 million for a restoration project at the Largo Argentina archaeological site.

Photo Corriere della Sera