Rome is a city of water, a city of fountains. Water is the dramatic focal element celebrated throughout Rome’s public piazzas. The Tiber is the spine of the city that influenced the location, formation and evolution of Rome; it is the source.
The history of the city is marked again and again by its devastating floods. Since the construction of the high embankments at the end of the 1800s, the Tiber now flows isolated and apart from the thriving city.
Prior to the construction of the river’s embankment walls in the late 19th century, the Tiber was the major artery for commerce and transport of Rome.
