Piazza Navona

The Piazza Navona in Rome is huge – the size of a stadium, because that’s what it used to be. Besides a lovely looking baroque palace along one side, its main focus are the three impressive fountains installed between the 16th and 19th centuries.

The Fontana del Nettuno (fountain of Neptune) shows Neptune fighting an octopus, with mermaids, cupids and monsters around the edges.

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (fountain of four rivers) shows four river gods representing rivers across four continents – the Nile, Ganges, Danube and the Rio de la Plata, and then there’s a perhaps gratuitous egyptian obelisk plonked on top. Not sure who I am to question Bernini though.

At the other end is the Fontana del Moro (fountain of the Moor) shows a figure wrestling a dolphin, as well as Tritons, faces and more dolphins.

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