Rome Outdoors

The city of Florence was on my list of places to visit but I realized there were still a few sites I had not seen in Rome, so I decided to postpone my visit to Florence for another time. Still on my must-see list was the infamous Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, so one afternoon I trekked across the city to see if I could find them.

TREVI FOUNTAIN

Statistics show Trevi Fountain as the third most visited site in Rome with over 3.5 million visitors a year. Nice to know I was one of them =) To be honest, I didn't know what the hype was all about until I was standing in front of the fountain in person. Perhaps the thing that impressed me most was the scale of the fountain and the calming effect it had while listening and watching the water flow. I could easily see it becoming my oasis in the center of the city if I lived there.

This 1762 monument was designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and built on the site of an ancient Roman aqueduct that originally supplied water to the city of Rome. The backdrop to the fountain is Palazzo Poli, a palace where Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya (a Russian with apparent gifts of writing, singing and composing) threw lavish parties in the 1830s.

A tradition still practiced today involves throwing a coin in the fountain to ensure a return to the Eternal City. An estimated 3000 Euros is collected from the fountain on a daily basis, collected by a charity to help feed needy families.

SPANISH STEPS

Unfortunately this cultural icon was under construction when I visited. No doubt the vast amount of foot traffic causes deterioration requiring repair from time to time. The 135 step Baroque-style monument was designed by architect Francesco de Sanctis in 1725, originally as a functional way to connect the church above with the Spanish Square below. Today it is a common meeting point and is the most photographed place in Italy.

PIAZZA DEL POPOLO

I noticed on my map a large urban square called Piazza del Popolo, located near the Spanish Steps so I decided to head there to see what it was all about. The name in Italian means "People's Square" but historically it derives its name from the church of Santa Maria del Popolo located in the northeast corner of the piazza.

The piazza was designed in 1811 and lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls which was once the most important route to the north end of the city. This was a traveler's first view of Rome upon arrival.

Looking from the north, three streets branch out from the piazza into the city, forming the so-called trident or il Tridente as they say in Italian. The central street, now known as the Via del Corso, was an important ancient thoroughfare that linked the north gate with another ancient Roman road that took travelers further into the city, Capitoline Hill and Roman Forum.

Today this plaza contains a central obelisk (brought to Rome from Egypt in 10BC but used elsewhere at first), fountains (designed at the time to show off water flow from aqueduct), structural arches and gardens on Pincian Hill that overlook the space from the east.

Definitely, this was a beautiful place to sit and relax, as I did at a coffee shop adjacent to the piazza. While I was there, I tried a new dessert (for me) called Panna Cotta or chocolate covered cooked cream. The wonderful taste of the dessert matched the taste of my surroundings!