The church is falling down!

Maybe you know that the church of S Agnese in Agone in Navona Square was made by Borromini and in the same Square you can find the fountain of the Four Rivers that was made by Gianlorenzo Bernini.

The Pope Innocenzo X Pamphilj gave the project of the Fountain to Borromini but Bernini that was clever sent to the Pope a little model of the fountain all made in gold, and so Bernini won.

To explain their rivalry we have a legend here in Rome. One of the rivers from Bernini's fountain, the Rio della Plata, has a figure of a man with one of his hand up seeming to say "Be careful because the church built by Borromini is falling down!"

But it is only a legend because the fountain was built in 1651 and the church one year later!

photo credit: Roma Opera Omnia cc

It is located in Rome, Via di Santa Maria dell'Anima, 30/A

Get directions on google maps

Sant'Agnese in Agone (also called Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona) is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city... more on Wikipedia

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