Walking Tour of Piazza Navona in Rome

Facing the Fontana Dei Fiumi, the Sant'Angese in Agone Church in Piazza Navona was designed by Borromini, a rival of Bernini. One story says that Bernini designed the Nile and Plata statues in the Fountain of the Rivers with their arms shielding their eyes from the ugliness of the church. Then Borromini added the statue of St. Agnes to the facade of the church, gazing out beyond the square so as not to see the fountains in the square. In reality, Bernini completed his fountain two years prior to the work on the facade of the church but it makes an interesting interpretation of the statues!