When In Rome....

The city of Rome is full of history, culture and people. At times, hitting all the major attractions and exploring the city felt a little overwhelming. Off the beaten path, but still a popular (and free!) site that ended up being my personal favorite is The Spanish Steps. This tourist attraction gives a different perspective of the city as it is located in a residential area. Although there are still your typical street vendors, they don’t overpower the space. Walk a block and you find yourself among locals. I passed a grocery store, flower shop, and several restaurants serving delicious pastas, all while steering clear of the passing vespas.

When trying to navigate to The Spanish Steps, I turned a corner, came up alongside the Trinità dei Monti and suddenly, I found myself at the top of the steps. The view of the intricate streets and charming buildings was breathtaking. The elegance and grandiose style of the steps left me in awe as well. With 138 steps, this is the longest and widest staircase in all of Europe. They were built at the request of Pope Innocent XII in the seventeenth century. The architecture of the steps is referred to as Roman baroque. Originally the steps were named Trinita dei Monti, after the church at the top. They came to be known as The Spanish Steps after a Spanish ambassador who had his embassy on the square.



As I made my way down the famous steps, I did so cautiously as it had just rained and they were slippery. I tried not to get in the way of people having their pictures taken, but this was pretty much inevitable as this is a popular and worthwhile photo opportunity. While having your picture taken with The Spanish Steps in the background is a must-do, I would advise against eating on The Spanish Steps. I witnessed Asian tourists getting hackled by the Police, only to realize later that it is forbidden to do this. Maybe I’m just oblivious, but I didn’t see any signs, so I could have easily made the same mistake.


At the bottom of the steps, once you elbow your way through people with cameras, you find yourself at the Barcaccia Fountain, a fountain in the shape of a ship. This was a pleasant surprise, as I had no idea this was here! The colors of the stone and baroque style art of this unique fountain coordinate well with the steps. The fountain is in the form of a sinking ship which recalls the historical flood of the Tiber River in 1598. As you can see on this map, the Tiber River is within close vicinity to The Spanish Steps.


With the Tiber River being the third largest River in Italy at a time before walls, floods were a common occurrence. The worst known flood happened on Christmas Eve in 1598, where the Tiber River reached over 12 feet above sea level. Although there have been many benefits for the city of Rome to having a resource like the Tiber River, from means of transportation and trade to growth of grapes and olives, it also has lead to many difficulties. Several homes and ports have been destroyed over the years. The effects of the problems with flooding can still be seen today in the forms of walls. Less noticeable are the plaques that measure the heights of floods and the underground aquifers and network of tunnels that hold water.

To learn more about floods in Rome, check out this website! http://roma.andreapollett.com/S1/roma-c4.htm