Italy Part 4: Rome (Roma), Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinità dei Monti. The Spanish Steps is the longest and widest staircase in Europe.

 

The Spanish Steps, seen from Piazza di Spagna. The Spanish steps crowded with people, 27th Dec 2008.

 

Fontana della Barcaccia (English: "Fountain of the Old Boat") is a Baroque fresh-water fountain in Rome, Italy in the Piazza di Spagna, just below the Spanish Steps. It is so named because it is in the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its bows. The shape was chosen because, prior to the river walls being built, the Tiber often flooded and in 1598 there was a particularly bad flooding and the Piazza di Spagna was flooded up to a meter. Once the water withdrew, a boat was left behind in the square^.

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