Piazza Navona rock and decapitating some of the larger and smaller figures, after they recognised him by his sneakers. Piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans went there to watch the "agones" ("games"), and hence it was known as ""Circus Agonalis"" ("competition arena"). It is believed that over time the name changed to "in avone" to "navone" and eventually to "navona". Defined as a public space in
The Light in the Piazza (novel) The Light in the Piazza (novel) The Light in the Piazza is a 1960 novella by Mississippi writer Elizabeth Spencer. At its core are Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara, on vacation in Italy, where Clara becomes enamored of local Florentine Fabrizio. What appears on the surface to be nothing more than a romantic story of young love slowly dissolves into a more tragic tale involving a past accident with serious consequences, dark family secrets, deception, and a conflict between maternal love and responsibility and an innocent girl's physical and emotional desires as she becomes aware of her awakening sexuality.