The
Via Vittorio Veneto starts from the northern end of the Piazza Barberini.
It is a very animated road knot of a trapezoidale form on a light slope.
Several streets go ahead from Via Veneto: Via del Tritone which goes down
up to Largo Chigi Via Barberini which rises up to Largo Santa Susanna, Via
Venti Settembre, Via Quattro Fontane, Via Sistina which connects l'Esquilino
to Trinità dei Monti.Fontana del Tritone (Bernini)
At the center of the square one can see the beautiful Fontana del Tritone: four dolphins surmount a big open shell above which a triton plays a sea snail from where comes out a gush of water. Being simple and harmonious it is considered to be a masterpiece of Bernini realized in 1643 for the commission of the pope Urban VIII who wanted to decorate with a touch of particular elegance the bad countryside in front of the entry to the theatre court of his building the nearby Barberini palace. But for two centuries the fountain was the only watering place for bulls and goats grazing in the area. But for two centuries the fountain was the only watering place for bulls and goats grazing in the area.
The Via Vittorio Veneto is a famous artery of Rome of the beginning of the century. It is wide, planted with trees and adorned of flowerbeds, it has wide curves through the high-class Ludovisi quarters which took the name from the villa Ludovisi demolished after 1870 to build up the street which finishes at the Porta Pinciana. Such gate with a simple arch of travertine flanked by cylindrical towers were put up by Bellisario in the time of the Goth siege and it leads to the Aurelian Walls. Beyond the door there is one of the approaches to Villa Borghese.
The play-bill of "La dolce vita" of Federico Fellini
The "sweet life" was born in this street, commonly called Via Veneto which between the luxurious hotels, fashion meeting-points and elegant shops is a stage on which the charactes of Fellini film of 1960 met and separate. The film became the document of the epoch and the mirroe of the costume. The film tells with an irony about the cafe-society style of life which in the wake of richmen of every country goes around the cinema world and finds in Rome its ideal meeting-point. Being ephemeral and tingling the title of the film became all over the world a synonym of a behaviour and is used indifferently to say well or say badly about Italians in general and Romans in particular: from their capacity to make a jump out of the cake. But also depends if one prefer chatting instead of working. One of the photographers who participated in the chorus of the film is called Paparazzo. After him the term "Paparazzi" comes to indicate the fotoreporter in ambush.
After this film the street became the symbol of the "beautiful life" getting famous all over the world. A visit to Rome cannot be imagined without a raid even quick to the Via Veneto. A visit to Rome cannot be imagined without a raid even quick to the Via Veneto.
