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In spirit, and in fact, this section of the city is its most grandiose. The overblown Vittoriano monument, the labyrinthine treasure-chest palaces of Rome’s surviving aristocracy, even the diamond-draped denizens of Via Condotti’s shops—all embody the exuberant ego of a city at the center of its own universe. Here’s where you’ll see ladies in furs gobbling pastries at café tables, and walk through a thousand snapshots as you climb the famous Spanish Steps, admired by generations from Byron to Versace. Cultural treasures abound around here: gilded 17th-century churches, glittering palaces, and the greatest example of portraiture in Rome: Velázquez’s incomparable Innocent X at the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Have your camera ready—along with a coin or two—for that most beloved of Rome’s landmarks, the Trevi Fountain.
Getting Here
One of Rome’s handiest subway stations, the Spagna Metro station is tucked just to the left of the Spanish Steps. Buses No. 117 (from the Colosseum area) and No. 119 (from Largo Argentina) hum through the neighborhood.
Top Attractions
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, or Altare della Patria (Victor Emmanuel Monument, or Altar of the Nation). Also known as the Monumento Vittorio Emanuele II or the Vittoriano, this vast marble monument was erected in the late 19th century to honor Italy’s first king, Vittorio Emanuele II (1820–78), and the unification of Italy. Aesthetically minded Romans have derided the oversize structure, visible from many parts of the city, calling it “the typewriter” and “the wedding cake.” Whatever you think of its design, the views from the top are memorable. Here also is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with its eternal flame. A side entrance in the monument leads to the rather somber Museo del Risorgimento (entrance to the right as you face the monument), which charts Italy’s struggle for nationhood. For those not interested or able to climb the many stairs, there’s now an elevator to the roof (use museum entrance). Before you head up, stop at the museum information kiosk to get a pamphlet identifying the sculpture groups on the monument itself and the landmarks you’ll be able to see once at the top. | Entrance at Piazza Ara Coeli, next to Piazza Venezia, around Via del Corso | 00186 | 06/0608 | www.060608.it | Monument free, museum free, elevator €7 | Elevator open Mon–Thurs. 9:30–5:45; Fri. and weekends 9:30–6:45; stairs open winter 9:30–4:30, summer 9:30–5:30.
Trevi Fountain.
The huge fountain designed by Nicola Salvi (1697–1751) is a whimsical rendition of mythical sea creatures amid cascades of splashing water. The fountain is the world’s most spectacular wishing well: legend has it that you can ensure your return to Rome by tossing a coin into the fountain. It was featured in the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain and was the scene of Anita Ekberg’s aquatic frolic in Fellini’s La Dolce
Vita. By day this is one of the most crowded sites in town; at night the spotlighted piazza feels especially festive. | Piazza di Trevi, accessed by Via Tritone, Via Poli, Via delle Muratte, Via del Lavatore, and Via di San Vincenzo,
Trevi | 00187.
Fodor’s Choice |
Palazzetto Zuccaro.
The real treasure at the top of the Spanish Steps is not the somewhat dull church of Trinità dei Monti, but to the right on Via Gregoriana, the street that leads off to the right of the obelisk. Shaped to form a monster’s face, this Mannerist-era house was designed in 1592 by noted painter Federico Zuccari (1540–1609). Typical of the outré style of the period, the entrance portal is through the monster’s mouth (this is a great photo op—have someone photograph you
standing in front of the door with your own mouth gaping wide). Today it is the property of the Biblioteca Hertziana, Rome’s prestigious fine-arts library; at press time, it has been sheathed for a long-term renovation project. Leading up to the quaint Piazza Trinità del Monti, Via Gregoriana has long been one of Rome’s most elegant addresses, home to such residents as French 19th-century painter Ingres and Hans Christian Andersen. | Via Gregoriana
30,
Spagna | 00187 | 06/69993421
Biblioteca Hertziana | Station: Spagna.
Fodor’s Choice |
Palazzo Colonna.
Built for Rome’s grandest family, the fabulous, immense, and very private Palazzo Colonna contains the 17th-century Sala Grande—more than 300 feet long, with bedazzling chandeliers, colored marble, and enormous paintings—today best known as the site where Audrey Hepburn met the press in Roman Holiday. The entrance to the picture gallery, the Galleria Colonna, hides behind a plain,
inconspicuous door. The private palace is open to the public Saturday only; reserve ahead to get a free guided tour in English. | Via della Pilotta 17,
around Via del Corso | 00187 | 06/6784350 | www.galleriacolonna.it | €10 | Sat. 9–1:15, English tour 11:45.
Fodor’s Choice |
Palazzo Doria Pamphilj.
This bona fide patrician palace is still home to a princely family, which rents out many of its 1,000 rooms. You can visit the remarkably well-preserved Galleria Doria Pamphilj (pronounced pam-fee-lee), a picture-and-sculpture gallery that gives you a sense of the sumptuous living quarters. TIP
Numbered paintings (the audio guide included in the price of the ticket comes in handy) are packed onto every available inch of wall space. The first large salon is nearly wallpapered with paintings, and not just any paintings: on one wall, you’ll find no fewer than three works by Caravaggio, including his Penitent Magdalen and his breathtaking early Rest on the Flight to Egypt. Off the gilded
Galleria degli Specchi (Gallery of Mirrors)—reminiscent of Versailles—are the famous Velázquez portrait and the Bernini bust of the Pamphilj pope Innocent X. The free audio guide by Jonathan Doria Pamphilj, the current heir, provides an intimate family history well worth listening to. | Via del Corso 305,
around Via del Corso | 00186 | 06/6797323 | www.doriapamphilj.it | €10.50 | Daily 10–5.
Fodor’s Choice |
Sant’Ignazio.
Rome’s largest Jesuit church, this 17th-century landmark harbors some of the most magnificent illusions typical of the Baroque style. Capping the 17th-century nave is the trompe-l’oeil ceiling painted by Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709), frescoed with flying angels and heavenly dignitaries, including Saint Ignatius himself, who floats about in what appears to be a rosy sky above. The crowning jewel, however, is an illusionistic oddity—a cupola that’s completely flat yet, from
most vantage points, appears convincingly three-dimensional. The Jesuits resorted to this optical illusion when funds to build a real dome dried up. The church also contains some of Rome’s most splendid, gilt-encrusted altars. If you’re lucky, you might catch an evening concert performed here (check the posters at the entrance). Step outside the church to look at it from Filippo Raguzzini’s 18th-century piazza, where the buildings, as in much Baroque art, are arranged
resembling a stage set. | Piazza Sant’Ignazio,
around Via del Corso | 00186 | 06/6794560 | Daily 7:30–7.
Fodor’s Choice |
The Spanish Steps.
That icon of postcard Rome, the Spanish Steps—called the Scalinata di Spagna in Italian—and the Piazza di Spagna from which they ascend both get their names from the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican, opposite the American Express office—in spite of the fact that the staircase was built with French funds in 1723. In an allusion to the church of Trinità dei Monti at the top of the hill, the staircase is divided by three landings (beautifully banked with azaleas from
mid-April to mid-May). For centuries, La Scalinata (“staircase,” as natives refer to the Spanish Steps) has always welcomed tourists: 18th-century dukes and duchesses on their Grand Tour, 19th-century artists and writers in search of inspiration—among them Stendhal, Honoré de Balzac, William Makepeace Thackeray, and Byron—and today’s enthusiastic hordes. The Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Unfortunate Boat) at the base of the steps is
by Pietro Bernini, father of the famous Gian Lorenzo. | Junction of Via Condotti, Via del Babuino, and Via Due Macelli,
Spagna | 00187 | Station: Spagna.
Worth Noting
Il Gesù.
Grandmother of all Baroque churches, this huge structure was designed by the architect Vignola (1507–73) to be the tangible symbol of the Jesuits, a major force in the Counter-Reformation in Europe. It remained unadorned for about 100 years, but when it finally was decorated, no expense was spared: the interior drips with lapis lazuli, precious marbles, gold, and more gold. A fantastically painted ceiling by Baciccia (1639–1709) seems to merge with the painted stucco
figures at its base. Saint Ignatius’s apartments, reached from the side entrance of the church, are also worth a visit (Mon.–Sat. 4–6, Sun. 10–noon) for the trompe-l’oeil frescoes and relics of the saint. | Piazza del Gesù, off Via del Plebiscito,
Campo | 00186 | 06/697001 | www.chiesadelgesu.org | Daily 7–12:30 and 4–7:30.
Keats-Shelley Memorial House.
English Romantic poet John Keats (1795–1821), famed for “Ode to a Nightingale” and “She Walks in Beauty,” once lived in what is now a (very small) museum dedicated to him and his great contemporary and friend Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). You can visit his tiny rooms, at the foot of the Spanish Steps, preserved as they were when he died here. Just across the steps is Babington’s Tea Room, a relic from the 19th-century Grand Tour era and still a favorite for Rome’s
grandes dames. | Piazza di Spagna 26,
Spagna | 00187 | 06/6784235 | www.keats-shelley-house.org | €4.50 | Weekdays 10–1 and 2–6, Sat. 11–2 and 3–6 | Station: Spagna.
Palazzo Venezia.
A Roman landmark on the city’s busiest square, this palace is best known for the balcony over the main portal, from which Mussolini gave public addresses to crowds in Piazza Venezia during the dark days of fascism. Today it’s home to a haphazard collection of mostly early-Renaissance weapons, ivories, and paintings in its grand salons. Generally, however, the only way to see the handsome salons inside is when there is a temporary exhibition on. The caffè on the loggia
has a pleasant view over the garden courtyard. | Via del Plebiscito 118,
around Via del Corso | 00186 | 06/69994388 | Tues.–Sun. 8:30–7:30 during exhibitions.
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