A monumental staircase of 135 steps built in 1725, connecting Piazza di Spagna below to the French church of Trinità dei Monti above. At the base, Bernini's father Pietro designed the boat-shaped Barcaccia fountain (1627). One of Rome's most recognisable spaces and a natural gathering point.
Sitting on the steps is now officially prohibited and enforced with fines. The Keats-Shelley Memorial House, at no. 26 on the square, is a quiet museum in the rooms where Keats died in 1821.