Piazza Navona
Rome Italy
2016

Piazza Navona is a square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_Navona

Piazza Navona is one of the most spectacular and characteristic urban complexes of Baroque Rome. The square is delimited by the buildings that arose on the remains of the Stadium of Domitian , the shape and dimensions of which are preserved.

The original shape of the current square, in fact, faithfully imitates the perimeter of the ancient stadium that Domitian had built in 86 AD. C. for the practice of athletics and horse racing. The remains of this ancient structure are located 5-6 meters below today's street level and it is still possible to see them under a modern building in Piazza di Tor Sanguigna and in the basement of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone . The modern name of the square derives from the term Agones which in Latin means precisely " Games ".

Piazza Navona has been the scene of popular festivals, races and jousts over the centuries. From the 17th century until the mid-19th, on Saturdays and Sundays in August, Piazza Navona, which at the time had a concave bottom, was partially flooded to offer refreshment and entertainment to the Romans.

The church of Sant'Agnese in Agone dominates the square , begun by Carlo and Girolamo Rainaldi and completed by Borromini , who significantly modified it, making it one of the most magnificent Baroque buildings in Rome. Next to the church is the Pamphilj Palace , where the Brazilian embassy has been located since 1960. Opposite the building stands the church of Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore , formerly known as San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, erected on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1450.

Three fountains adorn the square: the Fontana del Moro , so called for the statue of the Ethiopian fighting a dolphin, the Fontana de' Calderari , also known as the Fountain of Neptune , both works by Giacomo della Porta and, in the centre, the imposing Fountain of the Four Rivers , by Gian Lorenzo Bernini .

The fountain is imagined as a large travertine cliff, dug out of a cave with four openings, which supports the granite obelisk recovered from the Circus of Maxentius on the Appian Way. On the corners of the cliff are the monumental marble statues of the four rivers representing the continents then known: the Danube for Europe, with the horse; the Ganges for Asia, with oar and dragon; the Nile for Africa, with the veiled head (an allusion to the unknown sources) associated with the lion and the palm; the Rio della Plata for America with one arm raised and an armadillo next to it.

On the upper part of the cliff are two large marble coats of arms of the pope's family with a dove carrying an olive branch in its beak, and the same dove, in bronze, is placed at the top of the obelisk .


The tour of the historic center by horse carriage is one of the most traditional tour of Rome, who can relive the atmosphere of past eras, when the city was traveled exclusively by horse-drawn carriages, which in Rome are called “botticelle”.

You will admire the beauties of Rome comfortably seated, led by one of the expert and friendly “botticellari” who will be your “Cicero” and with the characteristic sound of horses’ hooves on the cobblestones.

The horse-drawn carriages you encounter while visiting Rome are picturesque and one of the old city’s most photographed scenes, as they take tourists from sight to sight. These particular vehicles are called “botticelle” in Italian, and they’re an attraction in their own right.

Indeed, the botticelle have been a staple of Rome for much longer than it looks. What you may see now standing by monuments is but the “modern-looking” version of the ancient Roman carriages. The name itself refers to the fact that they were not used for human transportation, at all: “botticelle” literally means “little barrels”, because these trolleys used to bring goods of various types to shops as well as houses.

This all changed, obviously, as cars and trucks became popular in Rome, and while it was common to see both peacefully coexisting until the mid-twentieth century, when the whole of Italy became a tourist destination… the botticelle turned to the growing number of visitors. For many travellers coming from completely different backgrounds, having such a picturesque experience helped them make a connection with the glorious past of a city of many contrasts – one that was modern or trying to be so while at the same time remaining strongly tied to its historic roots.