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Photo: Paul Hermans, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Contains the tomb of Pope Adrian VI, the last non-Italian pope before Pope John Paul II.
Santa Maria dell'Anima is a church in central Rome, Italy, just west of the Piazza Navona and near the Santa Maria della Pace church. It was founded during the course of the 14th century by Dutch merchants, who at that time belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the 15th century, it became the national church of the whole Holy Roman Empire in Rome and henceforth the so-called German national church and hospice of German-speaking people in Rome. In some sources this institution is called Austrian since Habsburg emperors were its protectors.
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The church was built by order of Pope Sixtus VI (della Rovere). The campanile was erected in 1504 by Bramante and the church has frescoes of the four sibyls by Raphael in its interior.
Fountain of Neptune
A 19th-century addition to the square, made to balance the Fontana del Moro.
By Borromini, reputed to be on the spot where St. Agnes was martyred in the 4th century AD. This lovely basilica church is small with an almost circular interior. It is undergoing rehabilitation and the facade and dome are hidden in scaffolding. It seems to be open only until noon.
Fountain of the Four Rivers
By Bernini, in the very centre of Piazza Navona. Incorporates an Egyptian obelisk and symbolises four of the world's great rivers (the Ganges, the Nile, the Danube and the Plata), representing the four continents known at the time.
The pride of Baroque Rome, was established towards the end of the 15th century, and preserves the shape of the ancient Stadium of Domitian. The buildings surrounding the square stand where the spectators once sat, watching the spectacle of the naumachiae (battles among ships). The square remains completely unspoilt by traffic and modern buildings. Today, the square is an immensely popular place to sip a cappuccino, shop, and watch street performers. Behind the piazza at the northern end, you can still see remains of the Roman athletic stadium well below the current ground level. Amongst the various monuments of the square, look especially for the two Baroque masterpieces by Bernini and Borromini.
Branch of the Roman National Museum
Simple and elegant lines make up this building, whose construction began in 1480 for Count Girolamo Riario, nephew of Papa Sisto IV, and was taken up by architect Martino Longhi for the new owner, Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps. Today it houses one of the branches of the National Museum of Rome, showcasing ancient and Renaissance sculptures, and the results of the 16th/17th-century fashion for 'completing' ancient sculptures missing heads or arms.