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Ancient Rome: Piazza Navona
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Lined with Baroque palaces, this vast an beautiful piazza
was laid out on the ruins of a stadium built by Domitian in
86 AD, ruin of which can still be seen at the north end of
the piazza. The stadium had seating for around 30,000 spectators.
Originally called the "Circus Agonalis" (circus
of the Agonalia), it became known in the Middle Ages as the
Campus Agonis, which in time became 'n'agona'and eventually
'navona'. The arena was used for festivals and sporting events,
including jousts, until the late 15th century, when it was
paved over and transformed into a market place and public
square. The ruins of the stadium can be visited by appointment
only.
Piazza Navona is a popular gathering place for Romans and
tourists alike. Take time to relax on one of the stone benches
and watch the artists who gather in the piazza to do their
work, have your "tarocchi" (tarot cards) read, or
pay top prices to enjoy a drink at one of the outdoor cafés,
such as Tre Scalini. The piazza is best avoided from early
December until 6 January when a gaudy market and mini funfair
take over.
There are three fountains, the central one being Bernini's
masterpiece, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the
Four Rivers) depicting the Nile, Ganges, Danube and the Rio
Plata. The fountain took four years to build and was completed
in 1651; funds to build the fountain were raised by an unpopular
tax on bread. Bernini designed the figures, but the actual
carving was done by assistants. The obelisk once stood in
the Circo di Massenzio on the Via Appia Antica.
 The
Fontana del Moro at the southern end of piazza was
designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1576. Bernini altered the
fountain in the mid-17th century when he designed the central
figure of the Moor bolding a dolphin. The surrounding tritons
are 19th century copies. The fountain at the northern end
of the piazza dates from the 19th century and has a central
figure of Neptune fighting with a sea monster, surrounded
by sea nymphs.
In the centre of the piazza facing the Fontana dei Quattro
Fiumi is the Chiesa di Sant'Agnese in Agone, its façade
designed by Bernini's bitter rival, Borromini. The tradition
is that the statues of Bernini's Fontana dei Fiumi are shielding
their eyes in disgust from the sight of Borromini's church,
but the truth is that Bernini completed the fountain two years
before his contemporary started work on the façade and in
fact the figure is shielding its face to indicate that the
source of the river at that time had been undiscovered.
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Palazzo Pamphili
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The largest building in the piazza is the elegant Palazzo
Pamphili built between 1644 and 1650 by Girolamo
Rainaldi and Borromini for Giovanni Battista Pamphilj
when he became Pope Innocent X. It was later occupied
by his domineering sister-inlaw, Olimpia Maidalchini,
who like other members of the pope's family received
enormous riches and favours during his pontificate.
It is now the Brazilian Embassy.
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| Piazza
di Pasquino |
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At the southern end of Piazza Navona is the small Piazza
di Pasquino. The statue, an ancient Roman torso
which was much admired by Bernini, was placed in the
square in 1501. This became known as a 'talking statue'
to which people attached witty or caustic criticisms
of the people who ruled the city. A prosperous tailor
in the area, Pasquino, was credited with having inaugurated
this form of public satire, and the messages left on
the statue (and other similar statues around the city)
became known as "pasquinade".
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