Lucci Hotel Rome Blog

If you’re planning to visit Rome you’ll get familiar with large noses, and I’m not talking about Pinocchio.
Everywhere in the eternal city you’ll find small drinking fountains available to everyone. Their name in italian is “nasoni” which means, literally “large noses”.

Of course, the nasoni are a blessing in summer, but they come handy all year long, anytime you need to refill your empty bottle of water. By the way, don’t be afraid to drink from them–the water in Rome is absolutely drinkable as long as you don’t drink it for long periods of time because its minerals would affect your kidneys after a couple of years.
Anyway, coming back to our large-nosed friends: they appeared for the first time in 1874. The romans noted immediately that the faucet resembled a huge nose and before you can say “vini vidi vinci” the small fountains were already known by its current nickname.
The people in Rome are very fond of their nasoni and even though some claim they’re not very ecological, every time the city council tries to get one removed the citizens defend their fountain and do everything possible to keep it in its place.

Befroe i go, i’ll tel you a secret for beginners- if you want to use a nasone with some style, cover with your finger the end of the faucet; that will make the water gush upwards to you through a little hole in the tube, so you won’t have to bend downwards to drink from it.
According to some calculations there are roughly 2.000 nasoni in Rome, (you can check a map with all of them here) so you are more than likely to see one strolling away in the city, and when you do, don’t forget to take a drink from them, otherwise your visit won’t be complete!

To get a real feel of Rome (nasoni and all) My Hotel or Yes Hotel are great options. Check them and ask for rates and availability trough their websites!