Let’s discover the Spanish Steps
Piazza di Spagna is one of the most beautiful squares in Rome, if not the world. It is located in one of the most elegant areas of the city: Via dei Condotti, Via Frattina and Via del Babuino are just some of the exclusive streets that surround it. Frequented by thousands of tourists every day, it is a meeting and meeting place, so much so that it is called the “living room of Rome”.
It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, seat of the Spanish embassy to the Holy See since the 17th century.
The square has also been used as a location for several blockbuster films, among which William Wyler’s “Roman Holiday” and Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” stand out.
One of the most famous squares in the world!
In the center is the famous Fontana della Barcaccia, which Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo built on behalf of Pope Urban VIII. The work, which depicts a boat on the verge of sinking, was inspired by the flood that caused the overflow of the Tiber River in 1598. The splendid Spanish Steps dominate the square, built between 1723 and 1726 on a project by the Roman architect Francesco De Sanctis. Every year, in spring, hundreds of azaleas are placed on the staircase, giving it a triumphantly polychrome look. At the top of the staircase, on the other hand, is the Church of the Trinità dei Monti, one of the five French-speaking Catholic churches in Rome. The building, built in the 16th century, houses valuable works of art from Roman Mannerism.
The square also hosts other monuments and buildings of great historical and artistic value such as: the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, considered one of the most interesting examples of Baroque art in Rome; the Keats-Shelley House, a house museum dedicated to the short, shining lives of the romantic poets John Keats, Percy B. Shelley and Lord Byron; and the Giorgio de Chirico House-Museum, which houses an extraordinary collection of paintings, as well as various objects that belonged to the artist.
