Piazza di Spagna

Piazza di Spagna in the Campo Marzio district is the public forecourt of the Spanish Steps and one of Rome's busiest squares. It takes its name from Palazzo di Spagna, the long-standing Spanish embassy to the Holy See. In the lower basin sits the Barcaccia, a half-sunken-boat fountain by Pietro Bernini (the elder), executed 1626-29; the witty design solved the weak water pressure at this spot and recalls the Tiber flood of 1598. The steps climb to the French church of Trinita dei Monti, beside the house where John Keats died in 1821 (now the Keats-Shelley House). Via Condotti runs from the square to the city's luxury labels; in the evening, young Romans sit on the lower steps, which is officially banned but quietly tolerated.