|
ROME
Squares
Piazza Navona
This famous baroque elongated piazza traces the perimeter of the stadium of Domiziano, the Circus Agonalis. Its name derives from the deformation of the word "n'Agona."
The arena, once the site of athletic competitions, was used for games and tournaments up until the seventeenth century. Innocent X made it a masterpiece of baroque style, charging Bernini with the construction of the Fontana dei Fiumi (Fountain of the Rivers), a monumental work of the seventeenth century presenting allegorical statues of the four rivers Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio de Plata, symbolizing the four parts of the world.
At the extreme end of the piazza there are two other fountains, that of Neptune and that of the Moor with Triton, constructed according to Bernini's models.
The large facade of the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, with its belltowers on either side, overlooks the piazza. The church was begun in 1652 by Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi and finished by Borromini in 1657.
Even Bernini took part in the work, making decorations and modifications to the external design. The inside, in the form of a Greek cross, contains frescoes, altarpieces and sculptures. The subterranean parts contain remains of the stadium of Domiziano and a marble bas relief representing the miracle of Saint Agnes.
Next to the church is the Pamphili Palace, a sixteenth-century building constructed by Girolamo Rainaldi and donated by Innocent X to his cousin Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphili. |
