Piazza di Spagna is one of the most famous squares in Rome. Its name derives from the presence of the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, which has been located there since the 17th century. A romantic center of 19th-century Rome, it had already assumed a commercially significant role in the 15th century due to the presence of numerous hotels and homes inhabited by foreigners, attracted to the area by the Spanish and French government representations.Under the papacy of Innocent XIII, and under the direction of the Roman architect Francesco De Santis, the Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) were constructed between 1723 and 1726. This grand staircase serves as a scenic link between the slopes of the Pincio Hill, dominated by the church of the SS. Trinità, and the underlying Piazza di Spagna. At the top of the steps stands the church of Trinità dei Monti, founded in 1495, while in the center of the square is the fountain known as the “Barcaccia” (1626-1629), created by Pietro Bernini, the father of Gian Lorenzo. The fountain is shaped like a boat with identical bow and stern and is set in an oval pool. The sides of the boat are very low, creating the impression that it is about to sink. On the exterior of the bow and stern, there are two large coats of arms of Urban VIII featuring three bees; water flows from fake gun ports beside the coats of arms.The term “barcaccia” refers to the boats used on the Tiber River at the nearby port of Ripetta. Other inspiring motifs for the fountain likely include the existence of a naumachia—an outdoor structure where naval games and battles with miniature warships took place—and the floods of the Tiber, which once carried boats to the foot of the Trinità dei Monti.At the right corner of the staircase was the house of the English poet John Keats, who lived and died there in 1821. This house has now been transformed into a museum dedicated to his memory and that of his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley. On the left corner is Babington’s Tea Room, which opened in 1893.On the side of Via Frattina stands the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, owned by the Holy See. In front of its façade, designed by Bernini (while the side façade is by Francesco Borromini), rises the column of the Immaculate Conception. This column was erected after the proclamation of the dogma at the behest of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, in gratitude for a narrowly avoided assassination attempt, and was inaugurated on December 8, 1857.The building undergoing maintenance work is located at number 31, Piazza di Spagna. Also known as the Palazzetto dei Borgognoni, it dates back to the 16th century and houses, on the last three floors, the Casa-Museum of Giorgio and Isa de Chirico. The artist settled there in 1948 at the age of sixty with his second wife, Isabella Far Pakszwer, and remained until 1978, the year of his death. The maestro lived and worked in the three-story apartment-studio for the last thirty years of his life, which is now open to visitors as a Casa-Museum.
INTERVENTIONS
Plasters overhaul
Plaster demolition
Refurbishment and Painting Repainting of railings and iron construction projects
Application of a waterproof layer
Replacement of the gutter
Overhaul of the covering and replacement of damaged tiles