Fontana dei Fiumi, Rome — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, the Fountain of the Four Rivers, is one of the masterpieces of Baroque sculpture. It sits at the centre of Piazza Navona, one of Rome's most beautiful squares, and was unveiled on June 12, 1651. Designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X, the fountain represents the four great rivers of the known continents: the Nile (Africa), the Danube (Europe), the Ganges (Asia), and the Rio de la Plata (the Americas). Each river is personified by a massive marble figure reclining on a travertine rock formation. One of the most repeated stories about the fountain is that the figure of the Nile has its head covered because the source of the river was still unknown in the 17th century. Another popular legend claims Bernini positioned the Rio de la Plata figure with its hand raised in horror at the sight of the nearby church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, designed by his rival Francesco Borromini. The story is entertaining but false: the fountain was completed before Borromini began work on the church. At the top of the fountain stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk, a Roman copy from the 1st century AD, brought from the Circus of Maxentius on the Appian Way. The dove at the obelisk's peak is the symbol of the Pamphilj family, the pope's clan. Piazza Navona itself follows the exact shape of the 1st-century Stadium of Domitian, which lies beneath the square. If you're on a Questo quest through Rome, the Fountain of the Four Rivers is a stop where every angle reveals another detail and another story.