Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps link the Piazza di Spagna to the church of Trinità dei Monti above via 135 travertine steps arranged in sweeping Baroque curves, completed in 1725. Despite the name — derived from the nearby Spanish Embassy to the Holy See — the staircase was built with French diplomatic money, commissioned by Étienne Gueffier to give French pilgrims a grand approach to the hilltop church. The house at the foot of the steps on the right was where the poet John Keats spent his final months and died in February 1821; it now operates as the Keats-Shelley Memorial House. Every spring the steps are carpeted in bright-pink azaleas for several weeks. The terrace at the top offers an unobstructed panorama over Rome's rooftops, while the Via Condotti below is one of Europe's most concentrated luxury shopping streets.