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Apartments in this quarter:
Vicolo del Puttarello: a one bedroom,
sitting room apartment accommodating up to four persons (section B2)
Via
della Croce): "Leonardo", a three bedroom, sitting room, 2
bathrooms, terrace apartment in an 18th century palazzo
(section B1).
You will find the map of the quarter, with precise indication of where the apartments are, in the sections B1 and B2 of the map of Rome, please click here. Once you will be in the page, click on sections B1 and B2, the exact location of the apartments will be shown. If you want to go directly to section B1, please click here, if you want to go to section B2, please click here.
| The area was called in the 18th century Roman
slang "er ghetto de l'inglesi" (the English ghetto), because it was the
preferred area of the English artists and of the tourists of the Grand Tour. It was Pope
Sixtus V, the great townplanner, who set the architecture layout. The famous Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) by Francesco De Sanctis (1723-1726) is made by twelve flight of steps of varying width moving upwards towards the Piazza Trinità dei Monti. Before the steps there is a fountain, the ingenious large boat "Barcaccia", spouting water while it sinks. |
What a Rom...antic place! The most beautiful staircase in the world |
| At the end of the steps there is the scenic
Franciscan Church of Trinità dei Monti. Begun at the request of Louis XII in 1503 by architects Carlo Maderno and Domenico Fontana, the church is adorned inside by beautiful frescoes (Daniele da Volterra, Federico and Taddeo Zuccari etc.). In front there is the Sallustian Obelisk, from the Sallustian Gardens. John Keats and Percy B. Shelley lived in the palazzo at the right of the Steps, and their home is presently a museum dedicated to the two artists. In the photo to the right you see a view of the quarter from the windows of the the Franciscan nuns of the Church. This is actually what they see from their rooms. The palaces of Via delle Carrozze and Via della Croce are in the foreground. Behind them you can see the Church of San Carlo al Corso, and behind it St. Peter. |
The Spanish Steps quarter, S. Carlo al Corso and St. Peter seen from the windows of the nuns of the convent attached to the Church. |
| Quiet near there appears the Trevi
Fountain. The imaginative concept, the theatrical composition, the sober and
imposing beauty of the statues make it a masterpiece of sculpture and architecture. Its history dates back to ancient Rome (it was built where a virgin found the spring intersecting "tre vie" - three ways). Built and rebuilt in the millennia (including contributions of Pietro da Cortona and Bernini), it was finished by Nicola Salvi between 1732 and 1751. |
 Trevi Fountain |
It is indeed a symbolic celebration of the Mediterranean civilisation. An Arch of Triumph with a large niche (the palace of Neptune) is flanked by two series of Corinthian columns. The statues represent Abundance, Agrippa approving the plans of the Aqueduct, Salubrity, the Virgin showing soldiers the Way. Neptune firmly guides a chariot drawn by sea horses, guided by the figures of the two tritons (added by P. Bracci in 1762).
| The setting around consists of rocks, which
together with the roar of the fountain's water make you feel by the sea. Nobody forgot the famous scene in Fellini's movie "Dolce Vita" (1961) with Anita Ekberg immersing herself in the water. |
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Via Condotti - Valentino's boutique The elegant street in front of the Steps is Via Condotti, leading towards Via del Corso and the Tiber. It is the street with the finest boutiques and jewellers of Rome. |
Via Condotti: the Caffè Greco |
You will find here Valentino, Bulgari, Gianni Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Cartier,
Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Coutier, Chanel, Fendi, Brada, Giorgio Armani among others.
The Caffè Greco is one of the three most ancient cafes in the world. It
was founded in 1760, among its clients were Keats, Casanova, the mad King Ludwig of
Bavaria. Inside it is most elegantly furnished with antiques, paintings and original
dedicated documents of its customers. Also Babington's Tea Room at the
left of the stairs is a very elegant, yet expensive resort.
Via del Babuino: St. Atanasio Church |
Piazza del Popolo seen from the Pincio (Borghese Gardens) |
Via del Babuino (literally "Baboon street" after a very ugly
statue that was there) leads from the Spanish Steps towards Piazza del Popolo and the
Borghese Gardens. Together with the streets intersecting it (Via della Croce, Via Margutta
etc.), it is the street of art houses, antique shops, craftsmen and artists. Poussin and
Wagner lived here. In the left photo you can see the Greek Catholic Church of St.
Atanasio, and Via dei Greci, intersecting V. del Babuino. In Via dei Greci there is the
most famous musical conservatory of Rome: Santa Cecilia and the
"Lion Bookshop", the most known English bookshop in Rome. In Via del Babuino
there is also incongruously the neo-gothic All-Saints Anglican Church.
In Piazza del Popolo there is the Northern gate of ancient Rome, an
obelisk taken from the Circus Maximus surrounded by 4 lions, two fountains (Neptune and
the Tritons, Rome between the Tiber and Aniene River). The simple yet elegant design of
the square is by the French architect G. Valadier (1793). In the Piazza there are three
churches, the most important is Santa Maria al Popolo, with famous
paintings of Caravaggio (St. Peter crucified head down, and the Conversion of Saint Paul).
In the Piazza there are the fashionable cafes Rosati and Canova
(Fellini's favourite).
The piazza is surmounted by the Pincio Garden, a very ancient part of the
Borghese Gardens (it was owned by the Roman poet Lucullus), where from you can have one of
the best views of Rome at sunset. Apart from Via del Babuino, two other famous streets
lead to Piazza del Popolo: Via del Corso and Via di Ripetta. The three streets form the
"Tridente".
Piazza di Spagna: Collegio De Propaganda Fide Opposite from Via del Babuino from the Spanish Steps and towards the Trevi Fountain, you reach Piazza di Spagna. |
Gian Lorenzo Bernini's house |
One can find here the Spanish Embassy hosted here since many centuries and giving the
name to the square and to the Steps. It is more known as in a quite unique combination,
the MacDonald's and the Palace for the Defence of the Holy Faith by Borromini are next to
each other. The Mac's opening was fiercely contested by some intellectuals and fashion
designers, headed by Valentino. You will be surprised to find out that it is quite elegant
for its standards, with a Roman mosaic at the entrance, and
"fresh-made-frescoes" in the premises. Surely saturated fats, cholesterol and
meat (obtained from animals who must be killed) of fast food must be avoided, but you can
use its toilets, practically the only public ones in the area.
The Palace of the Defense of the Holy Faith (i.e. the Catholic in this
case) is by Borromini, and it has a peculiar genial concave facade. Near
to it in Via della Mercede you can find the home of his great rival Bernini
(as the marble slab remembers), who was buried in Santa Maria Maggiore. Adjacent is the
magnificent church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte.
Ara Pacis |
Mausoleum of Augustus |
Just after Via del Corso (near Via della Croce), on the way to the Tiber, one can find the Mausoleum of Augustus, a huge (40 Mt. diameter) circular grave of the first Roman emperor and also of other emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (for ex. Tiberius) with their wives. Nearby, encased in glass, is the magnificent Ara Pacis, or Altar of Peace, one of the most artistically distinguished monuments of ancient Rome. It was erected in 9 BC to celebrate the wealth and security that Augustus victories in Spain and Gaul brought. It was rebuilt from ancient fragments amassed trough a daunting difficult excavation. The lower band is decorated with acanthus leaves and swans. The upper band shows a procession with Augustus and his family.
Nearby there are three churches, San Girolamo degli Illirici (serving the Croatian community), San Rocco, and finally the most famous, San Carlo al Corso, with its sensous and elegant profile. The dome of the Church is one of the highest in Rome, and can be seen from all the viewpoints. |
San Carlo al Corso |
Back to the apartment Leonardo presentation To Via della Croce presentation If you want to see other apartments
To visit the immediately adjacent quarters, click on these addresses-URLs:
- Rome with a view!
- The Pantheon quarter
- The Navona quarter
- The Campo de' Fiori quarter
- The Trastevere quarter
- The Jewish quarter
- The Monti-Colosseum quarter
- The Roman Forum
- The Vatican quarter
- The Janiculum
