Rome

The Piazza di Spagna and the Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti

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Introduction

    The Piazza di Spagna is the most famous square in Rome, and it was almost as popular with foreign visitors and expatriates in the 18th and 19th centuries as it is today. In the 17th century Spain’s ambassador to the Holy See had his headquarters on the square and the area around it was deemed to be Spanish territory – hence its name. The Fontana della Barcaccia in the square is one of Rome’s Baroque fountains; it was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and designed either by the famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini or by his father Pietro. Bernini constructed a leaking boat – barcaccia means useless old boat – which lies half submerged in a shallow pool.

    The Piazza di Spagna and the Trinità dei Monti steps are within walking distance of the Villa Medici and the main approach to it coming from the city. One evening on their return to the Académie, Berlioz and a friend were accosted by muggers:

On climbing the Trinita-del-monte steps, on our way back to the Académie, we had to draw our big Roman knives. Some wretches were lying in ambush on the platform to ask passers-by to stand and deliver. But there were two of us, and they were only three; the cracking of our knives which we opened noisily sufficed to return them momentarily to the path of virtue.

(Memoirs, Chapter 36)

The Piazza di Spagna in pictures

    All photographs on this page were taken by Michel Austin in May 2007; other pictures have been scanned from engravings, postcards and other publications in our collection. © Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin. All rights of reproduction reserved.

1. The Piazza di Spagna in times past

The Piazza di Spagna in 1850

(Large view)

    The above engraving was published in the Illustrated London News, 4 May 1850.

The Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti in the 19th century (also known as the Spanish Steps)

(Large view)

The Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti in the late 19th century

(Large view)

The Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti in the late 19th century

(Large view)

2. The Piazza di Spagna in our time (2007)

The Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti

(Large view)

The Piazza di Spagna

(Large view)

    The road running from the piazza is Via Condotti; the Caffè Greco at No. 86 is a few yards further down the road on the right.

Viale della Trinitá dei Monti

(Large view)

    The Villa Medici (off the photo) is located a few blocks further up the street to the left of the row of cars; the church in the photo overlooks the Spanish Steps and the Piazza di Spagna.

© Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb for all the pictures and information on this page.

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