At the Spanish Square in Rome, Italy, a fine example of Italian Baroque style

 “Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.”

-- Giotto di Bondone, Renaissance painter
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(on the Spanish Square in Rome, Italy) A fine example of Italian Baroque style, Piazza di Spagna and its “Scalina Spagna” is one of the most-visited squares in Rome. The Piazza di Spagna is found in one of the most popular neighborhoods of Rome (near the high streets Via dei Condotti, Via Frattina, and Via del Babuino), which houses several impressive 17th and 18th century villas. The Piazza di Spagna "Square of Spain" is one of Rome's most renowned squares. The name comes from the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Spanish Embassy for the Vatican located on this square since the 17th century.

+ One of the most beautiful spots in the city of Rome, this square is also one of the most visited places in the capital of Italy. Before it was known as the Spanish square, this popular spot was called Piazza della Trinità de Monti in the early 17th century -- alluding to the church overlooking the square from above.

+ The Piazza di Spagna is the location of the Spanish Steps (“Scalina Spagna”), another famous landmark in Rome. The square is dominated by the broad, monumental stairway leading up to the Trinità dei Monti church, but it also features the Fontana della Barcaccia, in the middle of the square. Built by Italian sculptor Pietro Bernini in 1629; the fountain exhibits an early baroque style. (The fountain was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, with the aim of depicting the arrival of a boat during the flooding of the Tiber at Christmas in 1598.)

+ In the late 1700s the area around the piazza was much loved by English visitors on the Grand Tour and was known to locals as the ghetto de l’inglesi (the English ghetto). At the top of the steps, the Chiesa della Trinità dei Monti is also notable for the great views over Rome offered from its front staircase, and for its impressive frescoes by Daniele da Volterra.

+ The Spanish Steps were designed by Alessandro Specchi and Francesco de Sanctis, after troubled discussions on how to solve the problem of the steep slope between the church of Trinità dei Monti and the square below. In flawless baroque style, its monumental nature is slowly revealed, as one begins to climb its 135 steps. The aristocratic nature of the steps can be admired in its game of eye-catching perspectives and scenic effects.. (Down on the piazza, you will also find the Barcaccia, the "sinking boat" fountain.)

+ At the right corner of the Spanish Steps rises the house of the English poet John Keats, who lived there until his death in 1821: it is now a museum dedicated to him and his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley, displaying books and memorabilia of English romanticism. At the left corner, there is the Babington's tea room, founded in 1893.

+ To the southeast, adjacent Piazza Mignanelli is dominated by the Colonna dell’Immacolata, built in 1857 to celebrate Pope Pius IX’s declaration of the Immaculate Conception.