What is a nasone?
A nasone is a cylindrical cast-iron public fountain about 1.2 m tall with a curved spout shaped like a big nose — hence the nickname. Water runs continuously (yes, all day every day — Rome's gravity-fed aqueducts make this cheaper than installing taps). They were introduced in 1874 right after Italian unification and are now a protected symbol of the city. There are roughly 2,500 nasoni in central Rome and about 4,000 across the whole municipality.
Is the water safe to drink?
Yes — it's the same water that comes out of every Roman kitchen tap, sourced mostly from the Peschiera-Capore springs 130 km away and tested constantly by ACEA, the city water utility. The water is hard (high in calcium) but bacteriologically excellent. Locals fill bottles at nasoni every day. The only nasoni you should NOT drink from are those marked 'acqua non potabile' (rare, usually decorative fountains, never the standard cast-iron ones).
The 'secret' spout trick every Roman knows
Look at the curved spout — there's a small hole on TOP of the pipe. Plug the bottom opening with your finger (or just block the main flow) and water shoots upward like a drinking fountain, perfect for drinking directly without bending down or touching the spout. This is how Romans drink without getting wet. For filling a bottle, just hold it under the bottom opening.
Where to find nasoni
Nasoni are everywhere in the historic centre — on average one every 100–200 metres. High-density areas: Trastevere, Monti, around the Pantheon, Campo de' Fiori, Termini, Villa Borghese, the area around the Colosseum and Vatican. Our Drinking Fountains category on essentialcityinfo.com shows a live map of every nasone in Rome — filter by your zone and you'll usually find one within a 3 minute walk. ACEA also publishes the official 'Waidy' app, but our map is faster for tourists because it doesn't require an account.
Bottled water vs nasone water
Bars and tabacchi charge €1–2 for 500 ml of bottled water in tourist areas (€3 at the Colosseum). Two people for a week of sightseeing = €40–60 in bottled water plus a pile of plastic. Bring an empty bottle (or buy one once at a supermarket for €1), refill at nasoni, and you're done. The water is colder at nasoni than from a warm shop fridge — it comes straight from underground aqueducts at about 13°C.
Nasoni etiquette and common questions
Do: drink directly using the spout trick, refill bottles, splash your face in summer (Romans literally dunk their heads in August). Don't: wash dirty shoes, soap or anything chemical in them — they're for drinking. The constant flow is NOT wasted: it returns into the aqueduct system and keeps pipes from stagnating. Dogs drinking from the lower opening is normal and fine — the water is fresh by the second.
Special fountains worth visiting
Beyond the standard nasoni, several historic fountains are also drinkable: Fontana del Mascherone in Via Giulia, Fontana del Babuino on the street of the same name, the small fountain inside Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, and the Fontana delle Tartarughe basin (the upper jets only, not the bottom basin). The Trevi Fountain water is NOT drinkable. The Vatican has its own free fountains inside St. Peter's Square — refill before queueing for the Basilica.