In Rome, the thousands of stray cats can always find fresh, delicious water.
You’ll see them gathered around small metal fountains tucked into quiet streets — drinking from a steady flow of artesian water that has been running here, in one form or another, for thousands of years.
As you get closer to a park or square, the sound of trickling water sharpens. Water spills from a worn metal spout — one of the small nasoni scattered across the city — into a shallow basin, darkening the stone beneath it. The perimeter is always damp.
Cats slip in and out of the narrow streets, pausing at the fountains for a drink.
The brass is worn smooth where thousands of hands have passed over it.
Most of Rome’s public drinking fountains were installed in the late 19th century — but the water that feeds them follows paths first laid out by the ancient aqueducts.
A tourist bends awkwardly, trying to drink without getting soaked. The water is colder than expecte…
