Piazza Navona & Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

Built over the 1st-century Stadium of Domitian (Circus Agonalis). Transformed into a Baroque public showcase under Pope Innocent X Pamphilj in the 17th century.

A triumphant theatrical arena of water, obelisk, and stone celebrating papal power and global missionary reach.

Folklore claimed the statues of Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain shielded their eyes in horror from Borromini's facing church facade of Sant'Agnese in Agone, though the fountain was completed years before the church.