Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona exudes splendor and charm thanks to its monuments of great beauty and artistic works of international fame. Together with its history, this makes it one of the most famous squares in Rome and among the most well-known in the world.
Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona exudes splendor and charm thanks to its monuments of great beauty and artistic works of international fame. Together with its history, this makes it one of the most famous squares in Rome and among the most well-known in the world.
Piazza Navona is one of the most spectacular and characteristic squares of Baroque Rome. Emperor Domitian had a large stadium built on this site for athletic competitions called Circus Agonalis. It was 265 meters long and 106 meters wide, capable of welcoming 30,000 spectators.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Romans built houses on the former stands. The athletics track itself remained untouched and over the centuries it evolved into a large square. In the 17th century, Pope Innocent X gave it its current shape.
The remains of the structure are situated about five meters below the current street level and can still be seen under a modern building in Piazza di Tor Sanguigna and the basement of the church Sant’Agnese in Agone.
