Piazza di Spagna

Piazza di Spagna, known in the past as Piazza di Francia, is one of the most beautiful squares in Rome. The square owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, seat of the Embassy of Spain among the Holy See.

ARCHITECTURE

To the east of the square, we can find the Spanish Steps, a monumental staircase of 135 steps built between 1723 and 1725, which makes the connection between Piazza di Spagna, at the base, and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Church of Trinità dei Monti, at the top.

On the right corner of the staircase is the house of the English poet John Keats, who died there in 1821. Today, the building hosts a museum dedicated to his memory and that of his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley.

On the left corner of the staircase is the Babington’s tea room, a traditional English tea shop founded in 1893 by two English women, Isabel Cargill and Anne Marie Babington.

To the south of the square stands the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, a palace owned by the Holy See. Its main facade was designed by the sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the front side of the Via di Propaganda by the architect Francesco Borromini.

In front of the palace, stands the Column of the Immaculate Conception, which was inaugurated on December 8, 1857.

At the center of the square is the famous Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Boat), which dates back to the early Baroque period, sculpted by Pietro Bernini and his son, the more famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

HOW TO GET THERE

The closest Metro station is Spagna, on the Metro Line A, located near the Piazza di Spagna. The station has an exit right in the square. The closest bus station is Trinita’ dei Monti, located on top of the Spanish Steps, on the bus Line 117.