The Spanish Steps, Rome, Italy

Sunday, May 28, 2017

In the 17th century, the men in charge of building Rome had a problem in the shape of a large, wooded hill. It separated the newly-built Trinità dei Monti church, owned by the French, from the Piazza di Spagna, or “Spanish Plaza” named for the Bourbon Spanish Embassy that stood alongside it. With a newly-established peace between France and Spain, the French wanted to create a symbolic connection between the two countries in Rome; this hill was really cramping their style. A competition was held for the best design and the winner, a little-known sculptor named Francesco de Sanctis, gave the world the Spanish Steps. There is still some debate about how much the more-famous Alessandro Specchi contributed to the design, but one thing we can say for sure is that the end result is one of the grandest public works in Europe. The 135-step staircase is also bookended by two of Rome’s most whimsical monuments, the Fontana della Barcaccia, and the Sallustian Obelisk. The first foreigners to make the steps famous were the Romantic writers of the 19th century, like John Keats, who died in a house overlooking them. Since then everyone from Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday to Ray Romano in Everybody Loves Raymond has made sure that taking in the view at the Spanish Steps is part of their Roman Sojourns.Read more