When you’re planning your vacation to Rome, and looking into the various historical attractions and stunning architecture the city has to offer, we’re sure that you’ll come across many mentions of the Spanish Steps and the beautiful Piazza di Spagna. Find out why this is one of the city of Rome’s most popular squares, and what you can expect to see if you visit.
Why visit Piazza di Spagna?
Piazza di Spagna is right in the centre of Rome’s centro storico (historic center), and is therefore in easy walking distance of many other of the city’s main attractions, such as the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. Stereotype it may be, but no visit to Rome is complete without coming to Piazza di Spagna to climb the famous Spanish Steps, and even to pay a visit to the Trinità dei Monti church at the top.
The piazza has two main components: the famous Spanish Steps, and the piazza itself. We’ll discuss each below.
The square itself is named for the Palazzo di Spagna, the historic palace on the edge of the piazza which has housed the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See since 1647 (fun fact: each country in the world has two embassies in Rome: one for Italy itself, and one for Vatican City).
Visitors also enjoy an impressive collection of monuments around the Piazza, including the Baroque-period Fontana della Barcaccia, the Column of the Immaculate Conception, and the Sallustiano Obelisk. With a wide variety of high-end cafés and restaurants, as well as a number of luxury shops such as Dior and Balanciaga nearby, Piazza di Spagna is distinctly positioned as one of the swankier attractions in the city.
Explore Piazza di Spagna: Self-Guided Walks
One of the best things about Piazza di Spagna is that, like the Trevi Fountain, it’s a landmark in Rome which is completely free to visit. It’s also a fantastic place to get photos.
One of the best ways to explore Piazza di Spagna, and the less spectacular but no less historical squares nearby, is to find a suitable self-guided walking tour, which will ensure you don’t miss the best parts of this square! Check out our Self-guided Piazza walk below, which is a great way to see the best of the city’s squares, and enjoy the beautiful architecture and attractions of Rome. Or, if you prefer to explore the city with a guide, we’d also recommend the Wonders of Rome walking tour, a 2-hour excursion with an expert tour guide who can show you the very best that the city’s squares have to offer.
The Spanish Steps
You may recognise this historic landmark from the 1953 Audrey Hepburn film Roman Holiday, or from the high-octane action sequence in Fast X (2023). But there is so much more to the Spanish Steps than just an eye-catching filming location!
What's the big deal about the Spanish Steps?
A complaint we occasionally hear from visitors is that the steps themselves are not particularly spectacular. While we quite disagree with this view, we do also kind of understand where they’re coming from.
The steps aren’t easily photographed or viewed, and with the exception of occasions in the spring when they’re covered in flowers, their overall shape and impact can be diminished by the angles from which we can now view them, caused mainly by the proliferation of buildings around them.
However, they will really come to life if you learn their history.
Previously a muddy slope leading from the piazza to the church above, the steps were commissioned – and paid for – in 1660 by a generous bequest by Étienne Gueffier, French ambassador to the Holy See, when died in 1660, to allow people down below to access the church without slipping in the mud.
As with many spectacular Baroque creations in Rome, the task was thrown open to a competition in 1717, which was won by little-known architect Francesco de Sanctis.
It’s difficult to convey how revolutionary this travertine creation was at the time it was unveiled: it was the largest stepped edifice built since the pyramids, a song of praise to the beautiful church at the top, and paradoxically a vast and hedonistic exaggeration of the complex staircases found in pleasure gardens of the time, drawing on the influence of Bramante and Michelangelo.
More importantly for the movers and shakers of Baroque Rome it was the place to see and be seen, with three viewing platforms for dandies to eyeball each other, and an elegant shell-like sweep around its perimeter.
The Spanish Steps are actually French
In the English language, the Spanish Steps are named after Piazza di Spagna, the historic square in Rome which they overlook. In turn, Piazza di Spagna is named after the Palazzo di Spagna, which is located within the square and was built in the 16th Century. The Palazzo di Spagna has housed the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See since 1647.
Meanwhile Trinità dei Monti, the beautiful twin-towered church atop the steps, was built in 1502 on land owned by the King of France. To this day the church is considered to be standing on French soil; in fact many areas around the piazza are not officially Italy, due to the proliferation of embassies and other diplomatic entities, such as the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, a part of Vatican City just off the square to the south-east.
So, there is absolutely nothing Spanish about the “Spanish” Steps, other than their proximity to the Piazza and the Palazzo di Spagna (read on to find out why).
Indeed in Italian they have nothing to do with Spain at all — they’re simply called la Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti, “the staircase of Trinità dei Monti”, the name of the church at the top.
What's at the top of the Spanish Steps?
Once you climb the Spanish Steps, you will find the beautiful Trinità dei Monti, a Gothic church founded in 1502. The white stone church and the nearby Obelisco Sallustiano are popular attractions with architecture fans, and the courtyard of the church offers a stunning view of the Piazza di Spagna below.
Inside the church are some notable Baroque paintings, in particular the remarkably modernist 1545 Descent from the Cross by the unfortunate Daniele da Volterra, who, despite his talent, has had his name has been dragged through history as the “breeches maker” for having ‘cleaned up’ the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgement by painting loincloths on Michelangelo’s naked saints and prophets.
The small square at the top is named simply the Piazza di Trinità dei Monti after the church it hosts.
How many steps are there to climb to the top of the Spanish Steps?
There are 135 steps in total, if you are climbing from the bottom of the Spanish steps, to the Trinità dei Monti church at the top.
The Inn at the Spanish Steps
There is also a beautifully renovated eighteenth-century building which has been turned into a high-class hotel. The Inn at the Spanish Steps is a popular destination for travellers looking for luxury accommodation, near some of the most famous places in Rome. The Inn offers rooms, suites, and apartments with gorgeous views of the Piazza, but be sure to reserve them in advance, as the Inn is often booked up for months.
What else you should know about Spanish Steps
- You are not allowed to sit down on the Spanish Steps. Though you may see people doing this, it is strictly prohibited, and they will often be asked to move along by the Roman police – and in a worst-case scenario even fined for doing so. This is mostly a safety measure, as the Spanish Steps are a busy attraction, and sitting down on them increases the risks of somebody tripping and falling. However, you can certainly stop to take photos, as long as you’re aware of those around you.
- Climbing on the balustrades is strictly forbidden. Although the stone balustrades and handrails are sturdy, in order to prevent accidents, nobody of any age is permitted to climb on them. Again, you may find yourself approached by a police officer if you do.
- Be aware of scammers and pickpockets. Like all busy areas and tourist attractions in the city of Rome, you are sure to see scammers who are looking to prey on unwary tourists. Never take anything that somebody hands to you, and don’t engage them in conversation. Read our articles on how to avoid being pickpocketed, and the African bracelet scam to gen up before you get there, and watch out for another common scam where somebody will hand you or your partner a rose, then aggressively demand payment from you. To avoid being preyed on in this way, apply the same advice as given for the bracelet scam.
Things to see in Piazza di Spagna
At the foot of the famous Spanish Steps, you’ll find the beautiful Piazza di Spagna, and a wide range of things to do and see. Here are just a few:
The Palazzo di Spagna
The Palazzo di Spagna, for which the Piazza is named, houses the Spanish Embassy. While it’s a historical building, it unfortunately isn’t particularly photogenic — unless you’re Spanish, perhaps! While you can view the Palazzo from the outside, it is not open to the public due to its status as a working embassy.
The Column of the Immaculate Conception
Piazza di Spagna is where you’ll find the famous monument, La Colonna della Immacolata Concezione (The Column of the Immaculate Conception). This 19th Century monument pays tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is depicted as a sculpture atop the column. The column itself is a repurposed ancient Roman marble pillar, is completely blank and unmarked when it was discovered in the 18th century, so was possibly something that left over from Roman construction that had never been used. On the plinth at the base of the column, there are also intricate sculptures of the Patriarch Moses, the Prophet Isaiah, King David and Seer Ezekiel.
Even if you don’t have a keen understanding of Roman Catholic iconography, the column is an impressive sight, and each year in December, flowers are laid at the base to commemorate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and at Easter a wreath is hung around the statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of the column. In previous years this perilous task was carried out by the Pope atop a cherry-pickr crane
The Fontana della Barcaccia
Near the foot of the Spanish Steps, you will also find the Baroque fountain, the Fontana della Barcaccia.
Barcaccia is Italian for “rotten boat” and the sculpture celebrates a fishing boat that had become famous after being swept into the piazza during a winter flood and left to decay there over many decades.
It was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in 1623 and the job was awarded to Pietro Bernini. If that surname sounds familiar, that’s because Pietro was the father of the more famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the young genius is believed to have taken over as chief architect and sculptor on the project.
The fountain is fed from an ancient acqueduct, and to get over the low pressure of the gravity-fed flow, Bernini took the unusual decision to sink it below the level of the piazza.
Like many of the fountains in Rome, including the Trevi fountain, the Fontana della Barcaccia has been lovingly restored and maintained, and many tourists are surprised to learn it is now over 4 centuries old. However, despite its age, the Fontana della Barcaccia, while being a priceless work of art, is one of the few ornamental fountains in Rome which are in fact safe to drink from and that can be accessed by the public. Not many people get the opportunity to refill their water bottle from such a grand source!
The Keats - Shelley House
The blame for misnaming of the famous steps lies with the Brits, specifically those aristocratic young men who undertook the Grand Tour of classical Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, coining their own phrases for the things they saw.
Three of the most famous Romantic poets spent a lot of time in Italy, and only one made it out alive. While Byron died in what is now Greece, and Percy Bysshe Shelley died in a storm off the Tuscan coast, John Keats wasted away from tuberculosis in Rome while overlooking the famous steps and piazza.
In Keat’s former apartment is now the Keats-Shelley Memorial house, which has been converted into a museum dedicated these two superlative writers and poets of the 19th Century.
The rooms where Keats, tragically young, spent his final months between 1820 and 1821, are now owned and looked after by the Keats–Shelley Memorial Association. Their collection not only celebrates Keats, but many of his contemporaries, including Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. While small, if you’re a literature buff, it’s absolutely worth a visit.
Things to see near the Spanish Steps
Luxury shopping
The streets around the Piazza di Spagna boast a number of high-end and luxury stores, as well as some exciting independent boutiques that you can visit too. Within a five-minute walk of the square, you will find the likes of Dior, Balenciaga, Versace, Valentino, and Chanel, particularly along the impossibly swanky Via dei Condotti which is the main thoroughfare leading away from the famous steps.
While you may not be looking to drop all of your euros on a bag or a dress, many of these stores also carry cosmetics and home goods which are more affordable. They also often boast elaborate window displays, which can make for an interesting spectacle as you stroll around the Piazza.
It’s also the best place in place to ‘sleb spot’: this author once saw no less than Dannii Minogue and entourage sweeping down Via del Corso, bodyguards’ arms as laden with a multitude of Gucci and Prada bags as the branches of Christmas trees.
Cafés
Like every square in Rome, you can find a number of great-quality restaurants and cafés and the area near Piazza di Spagna (but also many avoidable tourist traps).
Given its history you’ll also find a few venerable hostelries still in operation after centuries, notably the Babington Tea Room, keeping the original Thomas Cook’s British tourists quenched since 1893, and Rome’s oldest café, Antico Caffè Greco where Byron and Keats are known to have supped – as well as a vast pantheon of other famous names, such as Goethe, Hans Christian Andersen, Wagner, Ibsen, and many more.
For both of the above historic venues, look carefully at the prices on the menu and be prepared to take out a small mortgage to enjoy their fare – but it’s worth it to say you drank there as did Brahms and Liszt.
For your morning cappuccino, snack lunch, or an afternoon aperitivo. If you’re keen to find authentic food and avoid the tourist traps, check out our guide to choosing a restaurant on your vacation to Rome to find the right kind of place to visit.
Other attractions in Piazza di Spagna area
Piazza di Spagna is the heart of Rome’s historical district, meaning that there are a large number of other popular Rome attractions within walking distance, or just a short Metro ride away. We recommend that you visit the piazza as part of our intimate and professional guided tour of Baroque Rome, self-guided piazza walking tour, or freestyle it in that rewarding way in which Rome honours the flaneur: just wander around randomly from the piazza in ever-increasing circles – though ensuring you don’t miss the peerless Pantheon, which is only 15 minutes away on foot.
You may also like to pay a visit to Villa Medici, a spectacular Renaissance palace and art museum with sprawling gardens to enjoy, which is only 4 minutes from the top of the Spanish Steps.
If you’re keen to add more local landmarks and exciting attractions to the itinerary for your Rome vacation, visit our list of top-visited attractions and discover the quickest and easiest way to buy tickets.
