PIAZZA NAVONA

Description

Essentials about Piazza Navona in brief

Piazza Navona, located in the heart of Rome, is arguably the most beautiful of the city’s many squares and probably the favorite of most Romans. On warm summer evenings, when the lights of Rome are reflected in the basins of the square’s three magnificent fountains, the cafes and restaurants overflow with patrons. The hustle and bustle is hardly less at Advent, when Rome’s most famous Christmas market is held in Piazza Navona. Tourists have also long since discovered the wonderful atmosphere of the elongated square, which is car-free and connected to the surrounding area only by a few narrow streets, leaving plenty of space for strolling and relaxing. Its elongated layout means that one long side is always in the sun. Whether you are looking for sun or shade, you will always find it in Piazza Navona.

The history of Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona owes its unusual elongated layout to an ancient stadium that once stood on the site. A first, rather provisional stadium for Greek-type games, i.e. athletic competitions, was built here on the Field of Mars by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. Emperor Domitian extended this stadium monumentally in 85 AD. It had dimensions of 275 by 106 meters and could seat over 30,000 spectators. Even though these bloodless, athletic games were nowhere near as popular as the bloody gladiator fights, they were still promoted by many emperors. The so-called Capitoline Agon (Greek for “competition”) took place regularly until at least the 4th century. The name “Navona” is probably derived from this term “Agon”. It also lives on in the name of the church of Sant’ Agnese in Agone, which stands in the square.

A first church was built inside the stadium on the place where, according to legend, Saint Agnes suffered her martyrdom. Gradually, houses were built into the substructures of the stadium stands, and the arena became a square used, among other things, for horse races. Since the foundations and partly the outer walls of the stadium continued to be used for the medieval houses, the shape of the arena has been preserved until today. In 1477 Pope Sixtus IV moved the market here from the Capitoline Hill. Finally, in 1495, the square was paved.

The buildings and monuments on Piazza Navona

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

In Piazza Navona there are several buildings and monuments worth seeing. The main attraction of the square is the already mentioned trio of fountains. The central and largest fountain is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, the so-called Fountain of Four Streams. It was built between 1647 and 1651 by order of Pope Innocent X by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who, according to many art historians, created his absolute masterpiece with the fountain.

The Fountain of the Four Streams is an allegorical representation of papal world domination: a massive rock massif rising from the water basin, surmounted by an obelisk, crowned with the dove, Innocent X’s heraldic animal. The personifications of the largest rivers of the four continents known at that time rest on rocky ledges. Thus the Ganges stands for Asia (with oar, palm tree and snake), the Nile for Africa (which, in allusion to its still unknown sources, covers its head, with a lion at its side), America is embodied by the Rio de la Plata (and by an armadillo fantastically misshapen for lack of living models) and finally the Danube with horse symbolizes the European continent. The obelisk, by the way, is not of Egyptian origin. It was made in honor of Domitian around the year 81 A.D. and decorated with characters praising the Roman ruler in the style of a pharaoh. In the Middle Ages, the granite needle received other characters based on Egyptian models, but they do not make sense.

Fontana del Nettuno and Fontana del Moro

The two other fountains in the square are the Fontana del Nettuno (Neptune Fountain) at the northern end and the Fontana del Moro (Moor Fountain) at the southern end of the square. The Fontana del Nettuno was built in 1576 by Giacomo della Porta, Rome’s most prominent fountain builder. The statues of Neptune surrounded by Nereids (sea nymphs) were added in the 19th century. Giacomo della Porta also built the Fontana del Moro. The central statue of a Moor carrying a dolphin, a design by Bernini, was added in the 19th century, as were the Tritons.

Sant’Agense in Agone

Another highlight of Piazza Navona is the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone. Commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1652, it was built on the site where, according to legend, St. Agnes was undressed but miraculously protected from shame by a sudden growth of strong hair. The front facade of the Baroque church was designed by Borromini, Bernini’s main rival. Construction began just two years after Bernini completed the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi directly in front of the building. The church was completed in 1670.

Palazzo Pamphilj

Right next to Sant’Agnese in Agone is Palazzo Pamphilj. In the mid-17th century, Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, as Pope Innocent X was known by his civil name, commissioned the star architects of the time, Girolamo Rainaldi and later Francesco Borromini, to expand three houses on the square into the new Palazzo Pamphilj. Since 1920, Palazzo Pamphilj has been the seat of the Brazilian Embassy in Italy and also houses the Philharmonic Academy.