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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...
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