Spanish Steps and other Rome, Italy Things to Do Tips

The steps were built in the 1720's to link Piazza di Spagna with the French church of Trinita dei Monti (currently under restoration as you can see by the photo). The French wanted to place a statue of Louis XIV at the top, but the pope objected and it was not until the 1720's that the Italian architect Franseco de Sanctis produced the Rococo design which satisified both camps.

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The fountain (Fontana Barcaccia) at the bottom of the Spanish Steps was designed by Bernini's less famous father, Pietro in 1629, commissioned by Pope Urban VII Barberini. The fountain was built as a memorial of the flooding of the Tiber, whose waters reached the foot of the Pincio.

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The fountain (Fontana Barcaccia) at the bottom of the Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna was designed by Bernini's less famous father, Pietro in 1629, commissioned by Pope Urban VII Barberini. The fountain was built as a memorial of the flooding of the Tiber, whose waters reached the foot of the Pincio.

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Shaped like a crooked bow tie, Piazza di Spagna is crowded all day and (in summer) most of the night. The most famous square in Rome, it takes it's name from the Palazzo di Spagna, built in the 17th century to house the Spanish Embassy. The piazza has long been the haunt for foreigners. In the 18th and 19th centuries the square stood at the heart of the city's main hotel district.

On the right of the picture (looking down from the top of the Spanish Steps) are the Babington's Tea Rooms, founded by two English spinsters in 1896 and still serving English teas to this day. On the left is the Keats-Shelley Memorial House, where the poet Keats died in 1821.

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The church was commissioned by Charles VIII, king of France, in 1495 on request of the founder of the Miniti order, who will then become Saint Francis di Paola. The works proceeded slowly, because of the damages the building suffered during the sack of Rome in 1527, and the temple was consecrated in 1586 by Pope Sixtus V. The double entrance stairs were built by Domenico Fontana in 1587, and in 1799 the construction was highly damaged by the first French occupation: it was then renovated in 1816. Outside, two high bell towers stand, enriching the façade, whilst the inside in made up of one nave only, flanked by chapels: in the cross there are the Baptism of Christ, by Battista Naldini, San Francis di Paola, the Visitation, the Assumption and the popular Deposition by Daniele da Volterra.

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The Colonna dell'Immacolata stands in Piazza Mignanelli near the Spanish Steps. It was erected in 1857 and commemorates Pope Pius IX's doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

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Nicola Salvi's theatrical design for Rome's largest and most famous fountain was completed in 1762. The central figures are Neptune, flanked by two Tritons, one trying to master an unruly seahorse, the other leading a quieter beast, symbolising the two contrasting moods of the sea.

The site originally marked the terminal of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct, built by Augustus' right-hand man and son-in-law, Agrippa, in 19 BC to channel water to Rome's new bath complexes. One of the reliefs on the first storey shows a young girl, Trivia, after whom the fountain may have been named. She is said to have first shown the spring, 22km (14 miles) from the city, to thirsty Roman soldiers.

The Fontana di Trevi is famous because the legend says that if you throw a coin you will come back to Rome some day - if you throw a second coin you can desire a second wish.

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The church, also called Basilica Liberiana, is linked to the vision of Pope Liberio on the night of August 5th 352, when the Virgin asked him to build a church on the place where the snow would fall the following day. So, when the miracle happened, the Pope built the church. The holy building, shaped like a basilica, was modified and renovated many times during the centuries and the Sforza Chapel and the Cesi Chapel were added afterwards. The façade was built by Ferdinando Fuga between 1743 and 1750, it stands on a short flight of steps and it is made up of two orders: the porch with five openings on the lower part, the loggia with three arches on the upper part with the mosaics of the 13th century portraying scenes of Christ and some Apostles, the Virgin Mary and some Saints. Interesting is the 75-metre high Romanic bell tower, the highest in Rome. The inside is divided into one nave and two aisles and it is 86 metres long, with a wooden ceiling dating back to the 15th century, whilst the floor dates back to the 12th century. Visitors can admire the monuments of Pope Nicholas IV and Clement IX. In the right aisle is the Baptistery with christening font and altar, whose great high-relief was made by Pietro Bernini, Gian Lorenzo's father.

Open: 7am-7pm daily.

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In 1611 a bronze of the Virgin and Child was added to this ancient marble column which came from the Basilica of Constantine.

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The lavish coffered ceiling inside the basilica is Renaissance whilst the facades, domes and chapels are Baroque. At the apse is the "Coronation of the Virgin" 13th century mosaic by Jacopo Torriti.

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