The Spanish Steps

Through Via del Tritone and Via Due Macelli, we reach Piazza di Spagna, which for three centuries has been the tourist center of Rome. In its neighbourhood lodged Byron, Liszt, Gocthe. Angelika Kauffman, Stendhal, Balzac, Hans Andersen and many others. The English poet Keats died in the house at the foot of the Spanish Steps on the right hand side. These steps should actually be named the French Steps, for the artistic staircase built in 1723, was the donation of a French diplomat, Etienne Gouffier. It was designed by the architects De Sanctis and Specchi, the latter beeing also responsible for the palace of the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, from which the Piazza takes its name.

In front of the Spanish Embassy stands the Roman column supporting the statue of the Immaculate Conception, this monument commemorates the promulgation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Piazza di Spagna is also the heart of the smartest shopping center and the artists' quarter; many of them live on Via Margutta and Via del Babuino, which leads to Piazza del Popolo. In these two streets you also find many antique shops and fine arts dealers. The fountain of the Barcaccia, the Old Barge, is the work of Bernini's father, XVI century. We enter Via dei Condotti, which is famous for its jewellers and most exclusive shops; almost immediately on the right is the Cafe Greco, which was the meeting place of Italian and foreigh intellectuals and artists who visited Rome in the last century.

We take the busy Via del Corso and after two blocks we turn left to see the mausoleum Augustus Caesar built for himself and his family in 28 B.C., inspired by the Etruscan tumulus (sepulchral mound). The ruins of the enormous circular tomb are planted with cypresses, as it originally was.

On one side of the Mausoleum stands a simple modern structure containing a wonderful monument from Augustus's time, the Ara Pacis Augustae, (the Altar of Augustan Peace), which was erected to celebrate the peace Augustus established throughout the Empire and which the Romans enjoyed for many years after a very long war period.

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