One of the icons of Rome is, without any doubt, the famous Spanish Steps. How many times do I end my walks in Rome, a tour, right here, in the famous Piazza di Spagna? After all, it is no coincidence that this corner of the Eternal City is so famous. Scenographically speaking, the staircase, which is completed with the opposite Barcaccia, the obelisk and the Renaissance church, is a real spectacle. But today it's time to find out more about this famous staircase.

Completed in less than 3 years, from 1723 to 1725 (jubilee year), thanks to the project of the roman architect De Sanctis, certainly the origin and the very history of this urban monument (leaving aside the incivility of many people) has been troubled. A bit like tortuous, but elegant at the same time, the origin of this incredible monument presents itself! To get to De Santis we must even start from 1559, when we began to talk about a connection that would allow us to join the square and the hill above, where the Renaissance church of Trinità dei Monti still stands today. Initially, in place of the staircase, there was nothing but a small path... Twenty years later the Apostolic Chamber bought the land where Piazza di Spagna stands today, but it was only in 1660 that the first projects were sketched. And it was, coincidentally, that genius of Bernini who spoke for the first time about a staircase punctuated by curved, concave and convex lines. Among other things, it also seems that, again on a project by Bernini, in this case under French pressure, an incredible equestrian statue depicting Louis XIV, the famous Sun King, should have risen from a point of the staircase. But why France and the French people? There was an extension of the times due to a long-standing dispute between the Papal State and France: both claimed possession of the natural slope from which the staircase should have risen.

Problems of money and financing, therefore. It was the pope Clement XI who announced the first official competition in 171, although the works began under Innocent XIII. In the end, De Sanctis won, thanks to his idea of creating a staircase on terraces which, especially in spring, is still embellished with lively and colorful flowers today as in the past. In this way, you can well imagine, the chromatic effect is absolutely unmissable, as well as the staircase itself which seems to resemble a flower garden at certain times of the year. Today everything seems perfect, but it is true that, if you read the reports left by the architect, there were many problems that he encountered: the biggest problem was having to create an open and harmonious place, a staircase whose top it had to be seen also from below, without however having to design covered areas which, for reasons of public order, were not appreciated. De Sanctis wanted to design a meeting area, which should also have had seating and rest areas. I would say that, fundamentally, De Sanctis overcame all the problems. In the end, however, it seems that an agreement, between the papacy and France, was found because even today, to decorate the marble stones, we find the eagle (heraldic coat of arms of the Conti family, from which Innocenzo XIII came) and the lilies of the crown of France. Peace made, for one of the wonders of Rome !