Piazza Navona
You're standing on the floor of a Roman stadium — the square is the arena, the buildings ring it where the crowds once sat.
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The elongated oval traces the Stadium of Domitian (80 AD). Three fountains anchor it, including Bernini's 1651 Fountain of the Four Rivers, which stands before the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.
What to look for
- The obelisk crowning the Four Rivers fountain is the Obelisk of Domitian, brought in pieces from the Circus of Maxentius.
- The Fontana del Moro is two hands: della Porta's basin and four Tritons (1575), plus the Moor wrestling a dolphin that Bernini added in 1673.
- The Neptune statue in the north fountain is a latecomer — added in 1878, three centuries after della Porta's 1574 basin.
A Christmas market fills the square from the first week of December to the first week of January; Palazzo Pamphili, the palazzo facing the piazza, now houses the Brazilian Embassy.
Piazza Navona is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.