Striking Town Squares Town squares aren’t always square. But even when they’re trapezoidal, as Venice’s St. Mark’s Square; oval, as Rome’s Piazza Navona; or square, as Krakow’s Stare Miasto, they share the same social function. They are spaces where locals can meet to do business, socialize and politic. For travelers, they're a central location to take in a city's history as well as its current vibe. What’s underneath the Piazza Navona in Rome? It’s an ancient stadium built by the Emperor Domitian, which gives the piazza its unusual oval shape. The name also derives from this arena. Track and field competitions were called agones, a word corrupted to navona over the centuries. In the center of the modern piazza is Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s extraordinary Fountain of the Four Rivers, representing the four major rivers of the known continents: the Nile (Africa), the Ganges (Asia), the Plate (the Americas), and the Danube (Europe). Two more lovely fountains anchor the ends of the pia...