Piazza Navona occupies the track of the stadium of Emperor Domitian – used in ancient Rome as a setting for athletic competitions and carriage races – conserving its elongated rectangular form.
The destiny of the square was set by Pope Innocent X (born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj) who had Palazzo Pamphilj built between 1644 and 1650 by Girolamo Rainaldi, in late 1500s style. To celebrate the family, Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the imposing fountain of the Four Rivers (1648-1651) a symbol of the Baroque movement in Rome and representing the Ganges, Plata, Nile and Danube, the largest waterways known at the time, at the foot of the obelisk Agonalis. The fountain stands outside the Church of St. Agnese in Agone, designed by Francesco Borromini who worked on it from 1653 to 1657.
Piazza Navona has a further two fountains: the fontana del Moro, sculpted by Giacomo della Porta in 1574 and renovated by Bernini in 1652 stands beneath the windows of Palazzo Pamphilj in the southern end, while to the north is the fountain of Neptune, completed in 1873 by Gregorio Zappalà and Antonio Della Bitta. Overlooking the square are buildings belonging to the oldest families in the Roman establishment: late 18th century Palazzo Braschi, which houses the Museum of Rome and the 16th century Palazzo Torres-Lancellotti and Palazzo Tuccimei.
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