"It's Just A Flight Of Old Steps. Way Over-hyped" (Not!)

The headline is from a TripAdvisor one star review of the Spanish Steps.  I had zero inspiration for a headline, so I googled "quotes about the Spanish Steps" and found that one.  (Remember, not everything is for everybody, but yikes!)

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog post:

Our final two stops on the Rick Steves’ “Heart of Rome Walk” were the Column of the Immaculate Conception and the far more iconic Spanish Steps.

The first (quick) stop is in a long piazza just next to the Piazza di Spagna, which is at the very bottom of the Spanish Steps.  In the preceding long piazza, the Spanish embassy towers over the piazza, with not much of a view of the Spanish Steps, so named because of their proximity to the embassy.

The door to the Spanish

embassy.  Yes, it's

absolutely huge.

At the base of the Immaculate

Conception.  I couldn't find

Franco Harris though.

Mary at the top of the column.

The column has Mary with a ring of stars for a halo, and she stands on a crescent moon atop the earth, which is crushing a satanic serpent.

Then, it’s just a short walk to the Piazza di Spagna and the 138 steps that make up the Spanish Steps. Partway up, the stairs split around a terrace, creating a butterfly shape, as stair climbers can go up either to the left or right.  At the top, the steps meet at the obelisk, neatly framed in the middle by the two Baroque church towers.

The church proves to be underwhelming inside, so it is much more famous for its placement at  the top, split down the middle by the obelisk, than by the interior.

Rick Steves’s guidebook claims that police will fine people sitting on the steps a steep 250 Euros as a way to cut down on the crowds.  We saw plenty of people sitting down on the stairs.  Perhaps the fine proved to be impractical, or perhaps the law is only enforced from May 1 to the end of October, or some such time period.

At the bottom of the steps is the famed “Sinking Boat Fountain,” designed by the famed sculptor Bernini’s father.  It’s built low deliberately, as the water pressure is low, so the water can’t shoot very high in the air.

Halfway up.  Looking down.

Also halfway up.  Looking up.

There is definitely a buzz surrounding the Spanish Steps, nearly as packed as the Trevi Fountain.

The Sallustian Obelisk (bet

you didn't know the name either)

was first mentioned in the 4th

century, and was moved to it

present location in 1789.  It's

from Egypt originally, but not

from the times of the Pharoahs.

The hieroglyphs were not

engraved until AFTER the

obelisk reached Rome.

The famed and popular Sinking Boat

Fountain.  You know what the next

sentence is: A fountain in Rome that

still has water!

Two domes from the top of the

Spanish steps.  The further

dome is St. Peter's, which

means you can Holy See

a whole other country from

the top.

The one worthwhile thing to photograph

in the Trinita dei Monti church at the top

of the steps.

And a close-up of the one worthwhile

sculpture worth photographing.

Maria & Van with hundreds of

friends at the fountain.