# Rome: What is the Building Behind the Trevi Fountain (and other fountain Questions)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-what-is-the-building-behind-the-trevi-fountain-and-other-fountain-questions/479282>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 30, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-what-is-the-building-behind-the-trevi-fountain-and-other-fountain-questions/479282 "2008-12-30T21:41:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-what-is-the-building-behind-the-trevi-fountain-and-other-fountain-questions/479282/1 "2008-12-30T21:41:17Z")

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[Here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trevi_Fountain,_Rome,_Italy_2_-_May_2007.jpg) What is this place?

Also: growing up in Illinois I was taught that [Buckingham Fountain in Chicago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Fountain) is the largest fountain in the world. Is that still true? Was it ever true? By my armchair calculations, the [Bellagio Fountains](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bellagio01.JPEG) seem to be about 3X bigger; however, most of the Bellagio Fountains seems to be a big pool, with the fountain machinery occupying only a small fraction of it.

Finally (and this is more IMHO), what are some really impressive fountains that I would enjoy looking at pictures of?

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-what-is-the-building-behind-the-trevi-fountain-and-other-fountain-questions/479282/2 "2008-12-30T21:52:57Z")

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The Palazzo Poli. Used to be a palace, now it’s a museum.

Part of it was knocked down to make room for the fountain, and the rest was redesigned to form a nice backdrop, IIRC.

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**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-what-is-the-building-behind-the-trevi-fountain-and-other-fountain-questions/479282/3 "2008-12-30T22:16:19Z")

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> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Finally (and this is more IMHO), what are some really impressive fountains that I would enjoy looking at pictures of?

The [Cascade at Chatsworth House](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chatsworth_Cascade.jpg) in England.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-what-is-the-building-behind-the-trevi-fountain-and-other-fountain-questions/479282/4 "2008-12-30T23:28:51Z")

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How are you going to measure it? Height? Volume of water? Area? FWIW, wiki claims that The Fountain of Wealth in Singapore is the largest (since 1998), and King Fahd’s Fountain in Saudi Arabia is the tallest:

> **[Fountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain#Some_modern_fountains)**
>
> A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
> Fountains were originally purely functional, connected to springs or aqueducts and used to provide drinking water and water for bathing and washing to the residents of cities, towns and villages. Until the late 19th century most fountains operated by gravity, and needed a s...