Piazza Navona is one of the most evocative places in the capital. The piazza takes its name from the term “Agone”, which in Greek means race or battle, and was used to indicate public game events. At the time of ancient Rome, around 86 AD, the Piazza was the Stadium of Domitian, used as a main arena for athletic games and chariot races, which until then had been held in the Campo Marzio, more suited to games because it was outside the city. Since the post-war period, numerous painters, artists and sketch artists have been using the piazza to create evocative outdoor studios which still attract tourists and curious people: you can buy refined souvenirs or have a caricature or portrait done to take home the memory of one of Rome’s places of the heart.
Walking through this magical place is a unique experience, passing the 16th and 17th century buildings of Rome’s oldest families, made sublime by the works of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini. The Pamphili family wanted to celebrate its glory and greatness and had the monumental Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini created. The work is one of the symbols of the Roman Baroque: the Ganges, the Rio della Plata, the Nile and the Danube, the great waterways known at the time, seduce the eye and heart with their majesty and sculptural perfection.
The Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone, by Borromini, is one of the jewels of the area, but equally fascinating are the fountain, Fontana del Moro, the Palazzi Braschi and Lancellotti and the overall structure of this enchanted place.