EUR Piezometric Water Tower

The EUR district of Rome is a strange place, a somewhat dystopian cityscape with monumental Fascist-era architecture commissioned by Benito Mussolini. Even its post-World War II landmark, a water tower built in 1957, is a unique structure that gives visitors a glimpse of the retro-future.

Nicknamed Il Fungo, or “The Mushroom,” the EUR piezometric water tower supplies the water for the nearby Parco Centrale del Lago’s waterfall, local firefighters, and the irrigation of the meadows. Since 1964, it has also been home to a rooftop restaurant proposed by popular tenor Mario Del Monaco.

The water tower has provided a backdrop for a couple of notable films as well, including Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse (1962) and The Last Man on Earth (1964), a post-apocalyptic horror film based on the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend and starring Vincent Price as the titular sole survivor of a vampire pandemic. Once you recognize the location, it’s hard to miss whenever it’s on screen, and seeing it in person will surely give you a surreal feel.