(via muthapucker)

There are many allegories with this fountain; the 4 men represent the Ganges (carrying a long oar), the Nile (head covered with a piece of loose looking fabric which means at that time no one actually knew where the Nile was), the Danube (with the Papal coat of arms seeing as it was the largest river closest to Rome) and Rio de la Plata (sitting on top of coins, a symbol of America’s riches). The Egyptian obelisk in the center was built for a Roman temple in 81 AD. There is a common rumor (something of which I just had write a trillion word essay on, there is only so much Bernini vs Borromini someone can write about…) that Bernini placed the Rio de la Plata allegory facing away from Borromini’s church Sant’Agnese in Agone in the hope that Borromini would fail and be nothing compared to Bernini’s own works (Borromini later committed suicide).

Up until the the 1800’s the Piazza Navona would be flooded on purpose so the wealthy citizens could ride around in their carriages whilst watching the poor trying to get along with their daily lives suffering in the water. They would also hold aquatic war games for entertainment. Oh those crazy Italians.