Piazza Navona (Rome's most celebrated Baroque piazza, with Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers at the center and the Sant'Agnese in Agone church on the west side) preserves in its elongated oval shape the footprint of the Stadio di Domiziano (the Stadium of Domitian, the Roman athletic competition stadium built by the Emperor Domitian in 86 AD as part of his architectural transformation of the Campus Martius). This is one of the most specific examples in Rome of urban continuity: the medieval and Baroque city built directly on the Roman stadium structure, using the stadium walls as the foundation for the surrounding palazzi, and preserving the shape of the oval competition track as the shape of the piazza above. Piazza Navona isn't a piazza that happens to be oval, it IS the stadium, with the running track now the cobblestoned piazza surface and the spectator seats now the palazzo facades.
The Stadio di Domiziano underground museum (Via di Tor Sanguigna 3, on the northeast side of Piazza Navona, with the entrance slightly set back from the piazza itself) provides the specific underground access to the surviving Roman stadium structures: the opus reticulatum walls of the stadium seating, the access corridors, and the in-situ archaeological material that the underground preservation has maintained since the 1st century AD.
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The Underground Stadium: Visit Guide
What You See
The underground museum (accessible by timed entry, book at stadiodidomiziano.com, approximately €9 admission, visits every 30 minutes) descends approximately 8 meters below the current piazza level to the Roman stadium floor. The surviving elements: the cavea (the seating structure, partially exposed, with the opus reticulatum diamond-patterned brickwork visible in sections), the vomitoria (the exit/entrance passages that allowed the crowd to enter and exit the stadium rapidly), and the specific in-situ fragments of marble seating and architectural decoration that were recovered during the excavations. A scale model and graphic reconstructions show the complete stadium in its 1st-century form: a 30,000-seat Greek-style stadium (dedicated to athletic competitions in the Greek tradition, running, wrestling, discus, which Domitian introduced to Rome as part of the Capitoline Games he established in 86 AD, the first Greek-style athletic competition in Rome) extending the full length of the current Piazza Navona.
The Domitian Context
Domitian (Emperor 81-96 AD, the last of the Flavian dynasty, brother of Titus who built the Colosseum) is the most architecturally prolific emperor in Roman history: he rebuilt the Palatine hill in its definitive form (the Domus Flavia and Domus Augustana palace complex), completed the Forum of Nerva, built the Odeon and the Stadium (Piazza Navona site) in the Campus Martius, and undertook the reconstruction of the Capitoline temple. His political reputation (Suetonius and Pliny the Younger both present him as a tyrant) was largely constructed by the senatorial class that assassinated him. His architectural record is the most constructive reign of any 1st-century Roman emperor.
Q&A: Stadio di Domiziano
Is the underground stadium visit worth the €9 ticket?
Yes, for the visitor who wants to understand why Piazza Navona is the shape it is, the underground visit provides the specific archaeological explanation that standing in the piazza itself cannot. The 45-minute tour (guided, with audio guide option) is concise and well-presented. The combination of the in-situ Roman masonry and the graphic reconstructions produces a clear understanding of the continuity between Roman stadium and Baroque piazza. The stadium visit combined with a coffee at Piazza Navona cafes (post-visit) and an examination of the Bernini Fountain from the perspective of knowing what is underneath the piazza is the complete Navona experience.
