PIAZZA DI SPAGNA, Square

Right in the center of Piazza di Spagna, you can admire the famous Barcaccia, a beautiful fountain made in the first half of the seventeenth century by Pietro Bernini with the help of his famous son, Gian Lorenzo. The sculptor had seen an abandoned boat which gave him the idea to carve a half-sunken boat emerging from the fountain at ground level, shooting water from four cannons.

Now turn your gaze to the other beautiful monument in this harmonious square: it's the Column of the Immaculate Conception, built in the mid-1800s. You can recognize the bronze statue of the Madonna at the top, and four marble prophets at the base.

Of course, Piazza di Spagna is one of the main landmarks in Rome's historic center, with its beautiful 17th and 18th-century palaces that surround it in an almost theatrical backdrop, in perfect harmony with the fountain. Of all the palaces, I'd like to point out the College of Propaganda Fide, which incorporates the church of the Magi: both were designed by Francesco Borromini, although the façade facing Piazza di Spagna is by his "rival", Bernini. The Palace of Spain that gives the square its name, as I already mentioned, is home to the Embassy of Madrid at the Holy See. The buildings originally only had two stories, but have since been raised over the centuries without altering the appearance of the square....