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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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