Piazza Navona

The Piazza Navona    is one of Rome's most famous squares.  It occupies the site of the Circus of Domitian, which explains the stretched oval shape of the piazza.  The Piazza is known for one of Bernini's masterpieces, the Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi - 17th century), which is shown above.  The Obelisk of Domitian (1st century) was incorporated in the fountains design.

Bernini's elegant fountain depicts four rivers representing the world's continents.  In the photograph below left shows a statue symbolizing the Ganges and the continent of Asia.  The photograph on the right identifies the Nile, representing Africa. It is said that since the source (head) of the Nile was unknown at the time that Bernini's design required that the statue be created showing the head covered to indicate an unknown source.  Others have suggested that Bernini did not want his statue to look at the adjacent facade of the Church Sant'Agnese, which was designed by Borromini, a contemporary of his who was disliked by Bernini.

In the photograph at the top of this page, the statue with its back to you (in the center) represents the Danube (Europe) and the figure to the left symbolizes the Rio de la Plata and the Americas.

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At the north end of the Piazza Navona, in front of the Palazzo Phamphilij is the delightful Fountain of the Moor.   The  Moor capturing a dolphin is credited as a Bernini design and was added to the fountain in the 17th century.  The tritons were added more recently.

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