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Piazza di Spagna And Spanish Steps

Memories of Hepburn and Ice Cream

Named after the nearby Palazzo di Spagna, seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See, Piazza di Spagna is a triangular-shaped square with the Spanish Steps on the east side. Facing Via Condotti, the Spanish Steps were featured in the movie "Roman Holiday" and offer a panoramic view of Rome from the top of the hill.

Since the classic movie “Roman Holiday”, every visitor to Rome wants to spend a peaceful afternoon sitting on the Spanish Steps with an ice cream in hand, imitating Audrey Hepburn’s appearance in the movie.

Piazza di Spagna is not in Spain, but in the heart of Rome, Italy, and the square gets its name from the nearby Palazzo di Spagna, seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. On the east side of the triangular-shaped square, there are the Spanish Steps to the Top of the Hill, which face the bustling shopping street of Condotti. The Spanish Steps are divided into 12 Sections with 135 Steps, and it is not easy to get to the top.

Manywhere Trivia:
Recently, the Roman government has banned people from sitting on the steps to rest or eat, so there’s always a scene of police officers shouting warning messages to reluctant tourists.

Standing at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, you can see the Magnificent Trinità dei Monti Church on the Hill, with its twin bell towers and the obelisk in front, which was moved there in 1789. If you reach the observation deck at the top of the steps, The City Skyline of Rome will suddenly appear.

The Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Boat) in the center of Piazza di Spagna was built in the 17th century and designed by Pietro Bernini, the father of the famous Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The water first flows into a small half-sunken boat, and then into the pool below from around the boat. It is said that the design of this baroque fountain is inspired by the scene of the flooding of the Tiber River in Rome in 1598.

Sun-shaped Human Face

At the southern end of the Piazza di Spagna, there is also a Column of the Immaculate Conception. The Virgin Mary, with flowers in her hands, stands at the top of the 12-meter-tall column, silently watching the pedestrians and vehicles passing by.