EXEDRA PALACES

PALAZZI DELL'ESEDRA

Piazza della Repubblica

1886/1903 Gaetano Koch (1849/1910)

So called for the ancient series of porticoes with seats constituting the exedra of the ancient Baths of Diocletian built in the years 298/306

The palaces were built following the circular line of the baths’ exedra

Inside it is possible to see remnants of mosaic, a bathtub and an octagonal fountain

Gaetano Koch himself lived here and now the palaces house offices and the luxury hotel BOSCOLO EXEDRA after modifications designed by the architect Maurizio Papiri and the designer Adam D. Tihany

“The Exedra Palaces, the most significant mark left by Koch in the city, are one of symbolic urban hubs of the Third Rome. Constructed on the ruins of the exedra of the Baths of Diocletian, the buildings have a curved arch form in serial succession - Giant Order - attic executed purely in Roman style, while in the four short ends, with more pronounced plastic character, style and decorative elements (caryatids, curvilinear gables) are concentrated to denote the ease of the designer in making inroads in different historical periods” (Fabrizio Di Marco - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Cardboard drawn in preparation for “Geography” 1934/36 by Mario Sironi (1885/1961), part of the mosaic “Corporate Italy” exhibited at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1937 and now in Milan in the Palazzo dei Giornali (Palace of Newspapers)

FOUNTAIN OF THE NAIADS

FONTANA DELLE NAIADI

Piazza della Repubblica

Basin built in 1888

GROUPS WITH BRONZE NYMPHS AND SEA MONSTERS

Four nymphs sculpted in 1901:

"Nymph of the lake with swan"

"Nymph of the river with river monster"

"Nymph of the oceans with a horse"

"Nymph of groundwater with dragon" 

At the center

"Glaucus fighting a Merman" 1912 all works by the Sicilian Mario Rutelli (1859/1943)

In Greek mythology, the Naiads were the nymphs who lived in rivers and lakes, in fresh water. The nymphs who lived in the salt waters were known as Ocean Nymphs or Nereids, therefore the very attractive nymph of the fountain of the oceans is not really a Naiad

Apparently the face of Glaucus is the portrait of the Roman poet Trilussa, according to the testimony of the great grandson of the artist, the politician, former mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli

It is the ending fountain of the ACQUA PIA ANTICA MARCIA aqueduct restored by Luigi Canina (1795/1856) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

"While the Naiads present a model of firmness Art Nouveau style, the Glaucus shows clearly the suggestion exercised on the Palermitan sculptor by the work of Bernini" (Giorgio Muratore)

The first ending fountain of the Acqua Marcia was a meaningless round basin in the area where now is the Obelisk of Dogali: it was inaugurated on September 10, 1870, ten days before the breach of Porta Pia and this did lead to the popular saying: "Acqua Pia, oggi tua domani mia" (Acqua Pia, now yours tomorrow mine) in reference to the end of the temporal power of popes

The nudity of the Naiads created a big scandal, so much that a popular legend has it that Rutelli was forced to change his original plan for Glaucus in the middle: instead of a naked woman and a naked man embraced, now the naked man embraces a fish