Spanish Steps

Spanish steps Rome

Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna) is the most famous square in the city of Rome. In the XVII century this square was considered as Spanish territory, since it was the residence of the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, and trespassers risked being forced to be enrolled in the Spanish army. In the following centuries, due to the great amount of travelers who flooded the city, the square became the heart of the hotel district of Rome. One of the most striking works of art in Spanish Steps is the Fountain "della Barcaccia" (Barcaccia means lousy boat) that depicts the Church's State as a drowning boat. The fountain was designed both by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Piero Bernini, his less known father. It was a fierce mockery of the corruption of the Pope's court; it was commissioned by Pope Urban VII. Leaving the fountain behind, you will be facing the famous Spanish Steps, 135 steps that link the square to "Trinità dei Monti", one of the most famous churches of Rome. The stairway was designed by Francesco De Sanctis who combined straight and curved sections with terraces. On the right side of this flight of steps you will see the house where Keats and Shelly lived while they where in Rome, the entrance to the house is right next to the stairway. Other famous landmarks of this astonishing square are the Collegio di Propaganda Fide, built for the Jesuits in 1662, the last work of Borromini, who committed suicide shortly after having finished it, and the "Colonna dell'Immacolata", a Roman column with a statue of the Holy Virgin on top; this column was erected in 1857 to commemorate the proclamation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. In this square, in 1984, opened the first McDonald's in the city of Rome, it is right next to the Collegio della Propaganda Fide.

gandhi en roma
by turbica

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