Rome Trip Report Day 3 b: Piazza Navona, Chiesa nuova, Agnes in Agone, Palazzo Altemps, Basilica di Sant Agostino

Piazza Navona, Chiesa nuova, Agnes in Agone, Palazzo Altemps, Basilica di Sant Agostino

https://picasaweb.google.com/108910506663540711253/6272982759068429265#6274395046567367858

has the video of our Rome day 3 b:  Piazza Navona churches

We were not able to retrace our way back to the bus stop we had disembarked but managed to reach a stop where 571 stopped—main road with traffic speeding on both sides.

With great difficulty we crossed the road—this was a motif in Rome… in fact from the first evening, I started carrying our passports and the med insurance papers along as I was so scared! They need state ID, ie passport for visitors even to start emergency medical help!

Of course, the passports needed to be carried in a pouch on an elastic under the clothes around the waist as I could not risk losing them… any way, all’s well that ends well!

 There was a souvenir shop run by a young Chinese couple… we bought several souvenirs and a t-shirt for son with St Peter’s on it at a very reasonable price. At Paris, the souvenir shop just below our apt had been a great buy… son always gets a t-shirt at all the cities he visits and his fridge is a lovely memory board with the souvenirs from his travels… We saw very reasonably priced souvenirs for Florence also but decided we’ll handle Florence when we get to it… bad call… at Florence, everywhere souvenirs were more expensive… surprisingly!! We never got our David… matter of regret! Should have got it from this shop

Our bus 571 came by and we got in… got down at Chiesa Nuova stop as planned as the morning was a continuation of our church visits.

Chiesa nuova

Chiesa nuova or Santa Maria in vallicella is lovely –the ceiling fresco in the nave and the drum are by Pietro da cortona. The whole church is very ornate

Piazza Navona

Then we were at piazza navona… with its Quattro fiumi fontane…of course yet another lovely obelisk for our pics in that square.

This is the Obelisk of Domitian, brought here in pieces from the Circus of Maxentius.

It is an ancient Egyptian obelisk surmounted with the Pamphili family emblem of a dove with an olive twig

Piazza Navona is one of the the most famous squares in Rome. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as "Circus Agonalis" ("competition arena"). Over time the name changed to in avone to navone and eventually to navona.

Piazza Navona has a central fountain Quattro fiumi fontane

and two additional fountains: Fountain of Neptune (1574) created by Giacomo della Porta in the northern end:

"Neptune fighting with an octopus" and  "Nereids with cupids and walruses"

At the southern end is the Fontana del Moro with a basin and four Tritons sculpted by Giacomo della Porta (1575) to which, in 1673, Bernini added a statue of a Moor, or African, wrestling with a dolphin,

This is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) in the Piazza Navona.


Collectively, they represent four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority had spread: the Nile representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Río de la Plata representing the Americas

 It was designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza as did the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone of which Innocent was the sponsor

Ganges with his oar signifying navigability in quattro fiumi fontana--4 rivers fountain

Nile hiding his face far right--as the source was unknown in that period

Agnes in Agone church

Santa Maria della Pace had closed for the noon but we attended a lovely mass at Agnes in Agone… 

the priest was posing for pics/videos and so no constraint on us taking pics of this beautiful church…

it was all lit up for the service… we also visited the separate shrine which has the relic of St Agnes skull… encased in gold plated silver casket surrounded by emeralds!

Sat at the square and had our lunch… in the midst of live music, levitating sadhus and other costumed characters frozen as statues!





It’s heart breaking to see these people go through such performances all for a few coins people may choose to throw!

Palazzo Altemps

We went to Palazzo Altemps when the churches had closed for the noon, bought our ticket at discount because of our roma pass… this would later serve for palazzo Massimo also which we visited the next day…this museum was pretty neat …

lovely statues, huge courtyard, no one else around and we enjoyed our visit before we went on our church hunt again…

We walked past Borromini’s Chiesa di sant ivo alla sapienza  and took pics of its awesome façade.

Basilica di Sant Agostino

Basilica di Sant Agostino was open…

 we happily trooped in and admired Caravaggio’s Madonna of the pilgrims… son was very much taken with this; he loved the realism of the dirt on the bare feet of the pilgrims as they kneel before the Madonna!

He had become a huge fan of Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro technique and was pointing out in all the galleries we visited and was very smug when the boards beside the paintings bore out his statement…

Unfortunately though we came round Luigi church twice, it was closed both in the noon as well as around 4 pm… we were told it’s open only 3 days a week… what a pity we missed out on the 3 Saint Mathews by Caravaggio!

We had looked up the treasures we would see much before our actual visit for all the cities and this prep had really been instrumental in our enjoyment of the actual master pieces, be it a painting, sculpture or a monument…

We had been walking up and down the area, entering the churches which were open and disappointed when some were closed!

Of course had had our dose of gelatos on our walks…

We needed to stock up for our kitchen… I had not been too pleased with the small alimentary near our apartment. He had put all our vegetables in the same bag, weighed and charged a flat rate—also a flat 2 euros each for milk, yogurt etc … we did not know the breakup.

We had seen a big Supermercati Piu right at the bus stop of 105—just 2 stops ahead of our stop. We decided we’ll get down there… we got into our 105 and got down at the stop in front of Supermercati Piu—thankfully it was open!

We bought a lot of stuff, weighed the veggies, fruits ourselves and stuck the sticker that comes when we punch in the code… got our purchases billed… the produce was so fresh and much less expensive than the small alimentary of course!

Stuffing everything in our bags, we caught the frequent 105 again and stood in the crowded bus till we reached our destination… the lovely meals that ensued made it all worthwhile!

This is the entrance courtyard of our apt.

The next day was our last full day at Rome and we intended to make full use of it. We slept off in our beautiful apartment!

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/05/rome-trip-report-day-4a-san-giovanni.html
covers Rome Day 4a, : San Giovanni, San Clemente, Pantheon, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Palazzo Massimo