Piazza Navona Today
After WWII, several artists started gathering in the square with stands where they painted and showed their work; some of them were specialized in making portraits and parodies of passers-by.
Recently, the Piazza has become a gathering place for street artists such as living statues, clowns, musicians and singers, making it one of the most interesting and lively parts of the city, especially at night.
Palazzo Braschi
This wonderful aristocratic home was built on the place where once stood the Renaissance Palace of Francesco Orsini, dating back to 1435. Over time, it hosted Cardinal Oliviero Carafa and then Cardinal Antonio Ciocchi del Monte, who ordered Antonio Sangallo the Younger to build a decorated tower on one of the building sides in the 16th century.
In 1790, the building became property of Pope Pius VI Braschi who ordered its demolition and commissioned architect Cosimo Morelli for the construction of a new building, for the benefit of his nephews Luigi and Romualdo Onesti.
In 1871, after the death of Duke Braschi, his heirs were forced to sell the building to the Italian State, due to the bad financial situation of the family. Then, it hosted the Ministry of Home Affairs and then, in the first part of the 20th century, as political headquarters of the fascist party.
After WWII, Palazzo Braschi housed 300 refugee families. Obviously, this caused some serious damage to the building, which was subject to vandalism and whose art pieces got stolen or defaced.
In 1952, Palazzo Braschi became property of the Municipality of Rome; it underwent extensive conservation works and the Museum of Rome was established, hosting daily life objects that illustrate the life in the city from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century as well as several art collections, such as the Roma Sparita series of aquarelles by Ettore Roesler Franz and drawings by Bartolomeo Pinelli.
The façade features a travertine footing and the windows of the ground floor are decorated with a lion head holding a cone in its mouth –which were elements of the Onestis' coat of arms – while those of the first floor have a curved tympanum with oak leaf festoons lying on dados decorated with stars. The portal is sided by two columns that support a long balcony; inside, you will find the majestic stair that can be accessed by the entrance on Via di S. Pantaleo.
Ancient statues, stuccoes and 18 red granite columns with capitals featuring the coat of arms of the Braschi and Onesti families make this a really solemn monument.
Lancellotti Palace
The back façade of Palazzo Lancellotti, also known as de Torres, overlooks Piazza Navona.
In 1542, Ludovico Torres, Archbishop of Salerno, commissioned the construction of the family palace to architect Pirro Logorio. In 1600, it was inherited by the Lancellotti family, following the marriage between the niece of Cardinal Cosimo De Torres and a member of the Lancellotti family and in 1800, after the last member of the Torres family died, the palace was named after his nephew Filippo Massimo Lancellotti.
The building, an example of late-Renaissance architecture, features an interesting main façade with three orders of eleven travertine windows, decorated by and topped by a cornice. The building is accessed through an imposing portal sided by columns and topped by a balcony, leading to a courtyard that has columns on one side and is decorated with plants, ancient reliefs and stuccoes.
The loggia features some statues that represent the remains of a great collection: it included the statue of Pudicitia, Diana Efesina and the bas-relief of Medea, now hosted in the Vatican Museums. Inside the palace, it is possible to admire the wonderful frescoes by Agostino Tassi and Guercino con landscapes, allegories and views.
Pamphilj Palace
It was built by Girolamo Rainaldi with the cooperation of Borromini in 1644, committed by Pope Innocent X and finished in 1650.
Then, the Pope gave the palace to his sister-in-law, Donna Olimpia Maidalchini.
In 1647, Donna Olimpia's son, Camillo, married Olimpia Aldobrandini, who brought a dowry of a building overlooking Via del Corso, which was chosen as the family house while the Pamphilj Palace was used to host cardinals and writers.
Since the mid 19th century, it hosted the Accademia Filarmonica Romana (Roman Philharmonic Academy) and then the Società Musicale Romana (Roman Music Society). In 1960, the palace was purchased by the Brazilian State to establish its embassy.
The Palace horizontally stands on the square and can be accessed through a majestic portal sided by a pair of columns on each side, supporting a large balcony, and the façade features two more doors with small balconies on top.
The windows of the upper floors are decorated with the family motif of the dove, while the centre of the façade features a large coat of arms of the Pamphilj family.
The main door leads to the courtyard, whose three sides feature two rows of arches supported by Doric columns on the ground floor and Ionic columns on the first floor; going through a portico, you gain access to the second courtyard, the most ancient, which is also decorated with two rows of arches.
De Cupis - Ornani – Tuccimei Palace
Bernardino de Cupis was the first member of his family to move from Montefalco to Roma around 1462, buying some buildings in Piazza Navona. Giandomenico, his son, appointed cardinal by Leo X, increased the property of the family by building other adjacent houses that were going to be incorporated into the original palace.
The last member of the de Cupis family that lived in the palace was Curzio because then, since 1560, it was rented out to cardinals, bishops and ambassadors several times.
The last information about the family, whose financial conditions were quite difficult, refer to Francesco de Cupis, related to the Ornani family, who, in 1683, had to flee to Naples with the protection of the Queen to avoid being beheaded under the orders of the Pope and disappeared without a trace.
Then, the Ornani family took over the building in piazza Navona and opened the famous Ornani theatre in the rooms of the ground floor; then, the theatre became known as Emiliani theatre in the 19th century and shut down at the end of the century. The palace remained property of the family until the first decade of the 19th century, when the Marchesa Clelia Ornani de Cupis sold part of the palace to Francesco Fiorini.
However, not long after that, the heirs of the marchesa impugned the sale and the contract got annulled by the Rota. On 15 December 1817, a part of the palace was purchased by rotal lawyer Giovanni Battista Tuccimei; then, his three children inherited it and purchased the remaining part as well as other shops in Via dell'Anima.
So, the whole palace went back to being property of a single owner: the Tuccimei family, who carved their coat-of-arms and name on the doorpost to witness this event.
Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone
The church was commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1652 to Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi, then replaced by Borromini, who worked at the church from 1653 to 1657. He almost completely complied with the original design by the Rainaldis, except for the hollow façade, which was designed to enhance the look of the dome between the twin bell-towers.
The church has a Greek-cross plan and hosts the tomb of the person responsible for the beauty of the square, Innocent X; his tomb is inside a crypt on the left of the high altar, along with the tombs of other members of his family.
Half-hidden above the entrance, you can see the monument to Innocent X by Giovanni Battista Maini and dating back to 1730. According to tradition, the statue blesses those who cannot see it as, due to its position, very few people turn around to admire it.
The church has seven altars and they are all decorated with bas-reliefs by Ercole Ferrata and Domenico Guidi, while the dome is decorated with frescoes portraying the Saint and made between 1670 and 1689 by Ciro Ferri and Sebastiano Corbellini.
The church also hosts many other frescoes by Gaulli, statues by Piero Paolo Campi and Melchiorre Caffà and several paintings by Francesco Rossi, Domenico Guidi, Antonio Raggi and Ercole Ferrata.
As well as being decorated with valuable marble and golden stuccoes, the church also features items taken from other religious venues such as the bells, which were taken from the Cathedral of Castro (in the province of Viterbo) when it was demolished under the orders of Innocent X, and the columns of the chapels that come from San Giovanni in Laterano.
The underground area, which used to be a medieval oratory, has an altar with a marble relief by Alessandro Algardi, portraying the miracle of Sant'Agnese's hair.
Church of Santa Maria dell'Anima
Santa Maria dell'Anima is the national church of Germany; its origins date back to Johannes Peters of Dordrecht and his wife who bought three houses and turned them into a hospice for poor people and German pilgrims.
The church received its name after a fresco portraying Mary between two souls of the purgatory was found during the construction of the oratory, in the late 15th century.
The edifice was rebuilt several times after the damages caused by the lansquenets in 1528 or after the French invasion of 1798, when the church was used as a barn and stable. It went back to its original use as a proper church under Pius IX, in the second half of the 19th century.
The façade is attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo; then, the group portraying the Madonna with the praying souls by Andrea Sansovino was added above the central portal, probably a copy of the ancient fresco, sided by marble columns. To the sides of the main portal, there are two smaller ones and three large windows that cover almost the whole second floor, while the third floor features a large oculus in the middle and the coat of arms of Pope Adrian VI, who is buried here..
The brick bell tower is typical and elegant, with marble parts, Renaissance mullioned windows and a steeple covered with small and polychrome ceramic discs. Inside, its nave and two aisles are asymmetrical and separated by pillars with Corinthian capitals, with several tombstones. It hosts several important art pieces: the altarpiece depicting the Sacred Family and the Saints by Giulio Romano, the Saints by Ludovico Seitz that decorate the vault of the nave and a picture of the Assumption by Francesco Romanelli. Other interesting features are the chapel of the Pietà and the funeral monument of Adrian VI, designed by Peruzzi.
The Christmas Street Market
Piazza Navona has been hosting the traditional Christmas street market for more than 100 years.
The event brings back the ancient times and traditions with music, games, and colourful lights filling the square, as well as stands selling sweets, toys, Christmas decorations, cotton candy, freshly baked doughnuts and amulets.
Moreover, the square, Via dei Coronari, Via dell’Orso and Sant’Eustachio host mandolin, gospel and ethnic concerts as well as an exhibition of toys and one of the most ancient cribs in our history, while a minstrel will tell the most mysterious and unknown facts about the city centre.
Furthermore, according to tradition, a visit to the market of Piazza Navona should always include buying decorations for the Christmas tree in order to have luck and prosperity in the new year.
All this until the final day of the Christmas holidays, 6th January, when the Befana will await children in the square to give them candies or coal.