Piazza Navona
The Piazza Navona is one of the characteristic squares of Baroque Rome in the district of Parione .
The ancient stadium
From Julius Caesar was 46 BC. A first, rather provisional stadium for games of the Greek type, that is to say athletic competitions, was built here on the Field of Mars .
Emperor Domitian extended this stadium monumentally in 85 AD. It was 275 by 106 meters and offered space for over 30,000 spectators. The outside was surrounded on the ground floor with arcades made of travertine pilasters. No remains of the second floor are archaeologically verifiable. The stadium was decorated with a number of works of art, mainly in the Greek style. An excavated torso , the so-called pasquino , is set up nearby.
After the Colosseum suffered severe damage from a fire in 217 and was therefore unusable for years, the stadium was also used for gladiator games in addition to the competitions . Presumably under Severus Alexander , the stadium was extensively restored.
Even if these bloodless, athletic games were not as popular as the gladiatorial fights, they were promoted by many emperors. The so-called Capitoline Agon (Greek: competition) took place regularly until at least the 4th century. The name Navona is probably derived from this name Agon . He developed from in Agone to n 'Agone to Navona . He also lives on in the church of Sant 'Agnese in Agone .
Remains of the ancient building have been made visible in Via Zanardelli. Some arches of the ancient stadium can be found below Sant 'Agnese in Agone.
- Domitian's Stadium
True-to-scale reconstruction model (1: 100) of Domitian's stadium (north side) around AD 86.
The reconstruction model from the south side
The place in the Middle Ages
A first church was built inside the stadium on the spot where, according to legend, St. Agnes was martyred. Little by little, houses were built into the substructures of the stadium grandstands, the arena became a place that u. a. was used for horse racing. Since the foundations and partly the outer walls of the stadium were still used for the medieval houses, the shape of the arena has been preserved to this day (see also Theater of Pompey ).
In 1477 Pope Sixtus IV moved the market from the Capitol here. In 1495 the square was finally paved.
The baroque square - The Forum Pamphilj
In 1470 Antonio Pamphilj bought three houses in the south-west corner of the square. When his descendant Giovanni Battista Pamphilj was elected Pope Innocent X (1644-55) in 1644, Girolamo Rainaldi and later Francesco Borromini were commissioned to develop the property into the new Palazzo Pamphilj . Girolamo Rainaldi built the facade. The adjacent gallery (ceiling frescoes by Pietro da Cortona ), the great hall and the oval staircase were created by Francesco Borromini. Innocent X gave the palace to his sister-in-law Olimpia Maidalchini , who also exerted great political influence on him. The palace has been the seat of the Brazilian embassy since 1920. However, it has only belonged to the Brazilian state since 1961. The Philharmonic Academy has also been housed in a part of the palace since the 19th century.
Donna Olimpia planned to convert the entire square into the Forum Pamphilj , based on the example of the ancient imperial forums . Borromini extended the ancient aqueduct " Aqua Virgo " here so that Bernini was able to build the four rivers fountain ( Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi ) in the middle of the square in 1649 . Four colossal male figures symbolize the largest rivers of the four continents known at the time ( Danube , Nile , Ganges and Río de la Plata ). They are stored at the foot of an obelisk , which was brought from the Villa Massenzio in Via Appia Antica to make the entire complex resemble an ancient circus . The two older fountains, the Fontana del Moro in the south and the Neptune fountain in the north, which Giacomo della Porta built from 1574 , were redesigned by Bernini. However, they did not get their final appearance until the 19th century.
From 1652 the church of Sant'Agnese was rebuilt in Agone . Architects were Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi as well as Borromini, who created the dome and facade in 1653–57. The two high, transversely oval towers and the powerful dome, together with the sculptural fountain and the spacious square, form one of the most beautiful ensembles of Italian urban architecture. The church was to become the burial place of the Pamphilj.
With the death of Innocent, the Forum Pamphilj remained unfinished. Olimpia Maidalchini was banished from Rome by Alexander VII , the subsequent Pope, and enfeoffed with the tiny principality of San Martino. The village of San Martino al Cimino was completely rebuilt by Borromini and Bernini. In terms of shape and dimensions, it is an exact copy of Piazza Navona.
More buildings
Opposite the Palazzo Pamphilj is the Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore church , a Roman titular church that was built into the ruins of the stadium in the 12th century. She was by King Ferdinand III. Donated by Castile and expanded again and again, especially by the Spanish popes. It was the national church of Spain until 1818 . It was given its current appearance in the 19th century by the architect Luca Carimini.
The south side of the square is determined by the Palazzo Braschi . It was the last city palace for a Pope in 1792 for Pope Pius VI. built on the site of the 15th century Palazzo Orsini. Today it houses the Museo di Roma. At one of its corners stands the Pasquino , the most famous of the so-called speaking statues in Rome.
Next to him is the Palazzo Lancelotti-Torres , which was built in the mid-16th century by Ludovico Torres , Archbishop of Salerno from Málaga . Together with the Church of Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore and the Hospice for Spanish Pilgrims, he formed a Spanish island in Piazza Navona.
At all times the Piazza Navona has been a popular venue for fairs, markets and festivals. For example the Giostra del Saracino , a medieval equestrian tournament. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Romans enjoyed themselves on the Saturdays in August at the Inondate . To do this, the fountains were allowed to overflow so that young and old could splash around in the water and have fun.
Today the Befana di piazza Navona market takes place only during the Christmas season until January 6th, where mainly toys are sold. Traditionally in Rome, the Befana brings the gifts on Epiphany.
The square is very popular with tourists all year round. As a result, the place is determined by souvenir vendors and tourist cafes.
See also
literature
- Jean-François Bernard (dir.): Piazza Navona, ou Place Navone, la plus belle & la plus grande. You stade de Domitien à la place moderne, histoire d'une évolution urbaine. École française de Rome, Rome 2014. ISBN 978-2-7283-0982-5 .
- Anton Henze : Art Guide Rome. Reclam, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-15-010402-5 , p. 303.
- Heinz-Joachim Fischer : Rome. Two and a half millennia of history, art and culture of the Eternal City. DuMont, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7701-5607-2 , pp. 230-232.
swell
- ^ Frank Kolb: Rome. The history of the city in ancient times. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-39666-6 , p. 596ff
- ↑ Cassius Dio , Roman History , 78, 25, 2 (online)
- ^ L. Richardson, Jr., A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome , JHU Press, 1992, ISBN 9780801843006 , pp. 366-367 (Googlebook)
- ↑ https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/gregorov/stadtrom/stadtrom.html Gregorovius, History of the City of Rome
- ^ Ludovico Pratesi: Palazzi e Cortili di Roma. Editori Anthropos, Rome 1988, p. 163 ff
- ^ Ludovico Pratesi: Palazzi e Cortili di Roma. Editori Anthropos, Rome 1988, p. 62 ff
- ↑ Sergio & Glauco Cartocci: Rom-Gestern, Plurigraf, Narni 1980, p. 70
- ↑ Review by Yves Perrin
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 '54.9 " N , 12 ° 28' 23.2" E