Piazza Navona, Rome

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Piazza Navona is very popular amongst locals and tourists. At any time, you can find something interesting to see. There will be street performers, such as musicians, jugglers, pandomime artists and painting artists. It is a good spot for people watching, a favorite activity of mine : various people doing various things and watching this like a theater. This square has been attracting visitors thanks to Bernini's amazing "Four Rivers Fountain". This beautiful fountain is refreshing in the middle of the square. Sant' Agnese Church is also located here. It is a must-visit square if you happen to be in Rome.

The Piazza Navona, or "Circo Agonale", occupies the spot where once stood the stadium of Domitian, which held up to 30.000 spectators. Here are three magnificient fountains. The one in the centre is the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini. The church of S. Agnese in Agone, is built on the spot where, according to tradition, the virgin Agnese, denuded before her martyrdom, was mantled in her hair, which had grown miraculously to cover her. It is a magnificent Baroque building designed by G. Rainaldi and Borromini. Beneath it are some remains of the original church and of the Circus of Domitian.

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This piazza is a marvel of light and sculpture. It is exceptionally long and owes its shape to the ruins that formed it, for under the buildings that surround Piazza Navona are the remains of the Circus Domitianus, Domitian's stadium -- a part of which can be seen if you leave the piazza by the north exit and turn left. The piazza marks the area for the races in the stadium. It features many fine old buildings, a beautiful church and three stunning fountains.When we were there there was heaps of construction and renovation in progress so we could not enjoy the area much.
Another highlight on the Navona square is the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone. It was commissioned in 1652 by Pope Innocent X and built on the site where according to legend, St. Agnes was stripped naked, but miraculously saved from disgrace by extraordinary growth of hair.

Looking at its elegant Baroque buildings, its beautiful Bernini fountains, its smart cafes, it's hard to think of the Piazza Navona as anything but a lively city square - albeit a very long elliptical one, but it's that elliptical shape that tells us something of the piazza's past life. When that ellipse was first laid out, it was ringed with stands for the thousands of spectators who flocked here to witness the games and mock naval battles that were ancient Rome's favourite form of entertainment.

Entertainment is probably still the main reason people come here, though these days that takes the form of people watching - seeing and being seen. The haunt of street artists, buskers, living statues - there's always something going on. Children chase pigeons, tourists sit self-consciously for a holiday portrait, hawkers ply their gaudy wares - if you're going to blow the budget and indulge in one pay-through-the-nose- for-a-ringside-seat coffee or gelato, this is the place to do it.

Check out the fountains (they are stunningly beautiful) and the gracious buildings around the piazza; window shop in some of the small streets leading off the square - the area is particularly noted for antiques and art galleries but there are all sorts of delicious goodies to tempt the eye and the wallet; and then come and find a place under an umbrella, order what you fancy (tartufo at Tre Scalini is my recommendation - chocolate heaven!) and enjoy yourself. You're in Rome's favourite outdoor drawing room.

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“Went to the Piazza Navona, being market-day, in search of prints. The scene here is very amusing; the variety of wares exposed, and the confusion of noises and tongues, and now and then a jackass swelling the chorus with his most exquisite tones.”
from “Samuel F. B. Morse, His Letters and Journals” Wednesday, 7.April.1830

EXQUISITE SIGHT Francesco Borromini’s design for the Church of St. Agnes in Agony (Sant’Agnese in Agone) is exquisite, both inside and out. The church stands on the west side of Piazza Navona. The undulating facade is repeated on the inside. Like all Borromini interiors it lacks decoration; architectural movement carries the eye around this small, chapel-like church. It was built on the order of Pope Innocent X.

I am so happy that it was open and we took the time to visit this very moving space.

Of all the virgin martyrs of Rome, none was placed in such an honored position by the early church as St. Agnes. Since the end of the fourth century her virginity and heroism under torture have been praised.

The name of the church has nothing to do with Our Saint’s tortured martyrdom. St. Agnes met her fate in the Circus of Domitian, now the Piazza Navona. In agone was the ancient name of the area, and meant “in the site of the competitions,” because the Circus of Domitian was an ancient stadium for footraces. Over the years the pronunciation morphed into Navona.

Be certain to take notice of “The Death of St. Agnes” on the church’s high altar. Ercole Ferrata (1610-1686) is responsible for its design and carving.

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The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers occupies the center of the large oval Piazza Navona. It is a masterpiece of Gianlorenzo Bernini's, and emblematic of the dynamic and dramatic effects sought by high Baroque artists.
It was erected in 1651 in front of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.
Bernini's design was selected in competition.

Public fountains in Rome served multiple purposes: first, they were highly needed sources of water for neighbors in the centuries prior to home plumbing. Second, they were monuments to the papal patrons.

This fountain means to depict allegories for the four great rivers in the four continents recognized by the Renaissance geographers: the Nile in Africa, Ganges in Asia, Danube in Europe, and Rio de la Plata in America.
Each has animals and plants that further carry forth the identification. Each has a river god, semi-prostrate, in awe of the central tower, epitomized by the slender Egyptian obelisk (built for the Roman Serapeum in AD 81), symbolizing by Papal power surmounted by the Pamphilij symbol (dove).
In addition, the fountain is a theater in the round, a spectacle of action, that can be strolled around. Water flows and splashes from a jagged and pierced mountainous disorder of travertine marble.

A legend, common with tour-guides, is that Bernini positioned the cowering Rio de la Plata River as if the sculpture was fearing the facade of the church of Sant'Agnese by his rival Borromini could crumble against him. In fact, the fountain was completed several years before Borromini began work on the church.

We enjoy the view to the fountain, and have a lunch in open-air cafe on the piazza Navona. There are several cafes and restaurants on the piazza navona and beside it ...

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It is quite large, and boasts nice water fountains and cafe at all four sides of the square. Be sure to sit in on the choir performence in the ornately adorned Church in this square, which is where ou

Also a wonderful and inexpensive spot to spend your evening.

This is the largest and the busiest of all the Piazza's in Rome that I experienced. With its unique elongated oval shape, similar to that of the Circus Maximus, there is plenty of room to mingle and move around. There are dozens of cafe's and a myriad of talented artists showing off there wares. With its beautiful fountains and location in between the Pantheon and Sant Castel its a perfect place to rest your weary feet and soak in the sun.