From the Statue of Pasquino, by the side of the Braschi Palace, we enter the
CIRCO AGONALE,
one of the finest squares in Rome, sometimes called Piazza Navona. It takes its name from being the site of the Circus Agonalis. Fêtes are held here during Carnival, and a fair at the Epiphany.
Notice the three fountains—the centre one by Bernini: four figures, representing four rivers, recline on a craggy rock; on its top stands an Egyptian obelisk, at its base a lion and a sea-horse.
THE OBELISK.
This, from the inscription, was either made for, or the inscription was added to and imitated by, Domitian:—"Sun god. Son of the Sun god. Supporter of the world. Giver of life to the world. The man-god Horus. The son of the woman Isis, who is come to avenge the death of his ancestor Osiris. The king living for ever, Domitianus." From his Alban Villa, where it originally stood, it was transported, in A.D. 311, to the spina of the Circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia, thence to its present site.
On the left is
THE CHURCH OF S. AGNESE,
said to have been built on the site where S. Agnes was exposed after her torture; the high altar in the subterranean chapel is said to stand on the very spot. In another part is shown her prison, and where she was beheaded and burned, the church occupying the side vaults of the circus. The upper church contains eight columns of red Cortanella marble; it is ornamented with stuccoes, statues, alto-reliefs, and pictures. Behind the high altar is the sepulchral chapel of Princess Mary Talbot, wife of Prince Doria, who died in 1857.
A street on the left leads to the