Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in a square shaped by an ancient stadium — baroque Rome at its most theatrical.
Explore → Get Early AccessRome's most theatrical square — three fountains, Borromini's curving church, street painters, and café tables set on what was once a racetrack. Bernini's Four Rivers fountain is the centerpiece of Baroque Rome's greatest outdoor room.
The piazza keeps the exact footprint of Domitian's stadium (86 AD) — the buildings stand on the seating. Innocent X rebuilt it in the 1650s as his family's showpiece, staging Saturday floodings for mock naval displays into the 1800s.
The story that Bernini's river god shields his eyes from rival Borromini's church façade is a myth — the fountain was finished first. Underneath a church at the north end, you can still visit the stadium's arched entrances.
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