Spanish Steps
135 travertine steps sweep from the Piazza di Spagna up to a French church on the hilltop.
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Francesco de Sanctis built this climb in 1723–25 to tie the Piazza di Spagna to the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. It's still one of Rome's great sit-and-watch stages — except now you can't sit.
What to look for
- The Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the longboat") at the base — built 1627–29, often credited to Pietro Bernini, with son Gian Lorenzo said to have helped on the decoration; legend says Pope Urban VIII installed it after being impressed by a boat carried here on a flood of the Tiber.
- The Sallustiano obelisk in front of the Trinità dei Monti church at the top.
- The house on the right of the piazza where poet John Keats died in 1821, now the Keats-Shelley memorial museum.
Don't sit — that's a €250 fine, with dirtying or damaging the steps (eating included) up to €400, under rules in force since July 2019. Come from just before 21 April into early May, when pots of azaleas are banked across the steps.
Spanish Steps is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.