Piazza Navona literally translated means the square of the big ship. In fact the shape of the piazza is an oblong ship shape and in roman times was flooded with water to allow mock sea battles to be staged. The piazza was also the scene of many martyrdoms including Saint Agatha who was thrown to her death for refusing to marry... The two most important architectural works lie directly opposite each other and are: the fountain of four rivers (Bernini) and the Church of Sant'Agnese in Anone (Borromini) - legend has it that Bernini was so jealous of the Pope having commissioned Borromini for the Church that when designing the lesser important fountain he deliberately designed a statue with their hands raised in the act of covering theirs eyes to remove the perceived hideous view of Borromini's church...