Page 44 - All About History - Issue 09-14

Rich in architecture and cultural
Italy O
heritage, Rome’s famous Spanish 08
Rome O
Square has attracted the creative

and the powerful in its lifetime

A view of Piazza di
Spagna in 1600

01 BUILDING FRENCH

POWER IN ROME

Louis XII commissioned
the Trinita dei Monti
after his successful

invasion of Naples at the
end of the 16th century. 02 Linking two European powers 03 The death of a poet
On 15 November 1820 English Romantic
Like many buildings The path leading from the Trinita dei Monti is known poet John Keats arrived in Rome
under the grip of tuberculosis. He and
in the area, it served to as the Spanish Steps because of its proximity to the companion Joseph Severn stayed at the
Spanish Embassy of the Holy See, which provided
Piazza using the money from his recent
demonstrate superiority, the country close access to the Pope. With the French publications. His health was in rapid
church at their top and the Piazza di Spagna at the
in this case of the bottom, the steps were built in the 18th century and decline and he admitted to ‘leading
a posthumous existence.’ He died in
funded by the French government as part of a wider Rome on 23 February 1821 and was
French monarchy, which political rivalry with its old enemy Spain, making the buried in the city’s Protestant Cemetery.
steps’ modern nickname somewhat ironic.
officially endorsed it.
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