The centre of the Piazza Navona is
dominated by the Fountain of the Rivers – Bernini
which was completed in 1651 and is one of the finest
examples of Baroque architecture in Rome. The 4 rivers
represent the 4 corners of Christianity and the 4
corners of the known civilised world which are The
Danube (Europe), The Ganges (Asia), The Nile (Africa)
and The Plate (Americas). The obelisk that is in the
centre of the fountain was brought to Rome from Egypt
by Emperor Maxentius in the early 300s and was formerly
housed at his circus, the Circus Maxentius, it disappeared
for about 1300 years and then showed up on the Via
Appia Antica... It was brought to Piazza Navona in
the 1600s to decorate this fountain. Under the Obelisk
is a huge empty grotto which is a much studied architectural
wonder in Rome. The animals and plants which represent
the four rivers look a little bit weird, believe it
or not the animal for Africa is supposedly a crocodile!
The reason for this is that Bernini had never seen
any of these animals so he would have sculpted from
information and bad sketches drawn from other people.
Did
you Know? Borromini, the architect
of the Church of Saint Agnes in Agony, was a manic
depressive and eventually took his own life...
