Sant'Agnese in Agone the commission, Borromini was one of many harsh critics that assailed the project's engineering. Ultimately, in a severe blow to Bernini's prestige as an architect, the facade bell-towers were torn down, and never rebuilt. Sant'Agnese in Agone Sant'Agnese in Agone (also called Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona) is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christian Saint Agnes was martyred in the ancient Stadium of Domitian. Construction began in 1652 under the architects Girolamo Rainaldi and
Piazza San Marco from the lagoon surging up into the Square. Books Piazza San Marco Piazza San Marco (; ), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "la Piazza" ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (except the Piazzetta and the Piazzale Roma) are called "campi" ("fields"). The Piazzetta ("little Piazza/Square") is an extension of the Piazza towards the lagoon in its south east corner (see plan). The two spaces together form the social, religious and political centre of Venice and are commonly considered together.