The Spanish Steps

[MrCoffee]

- The Spanish Steps ( Piazza di Spagna ) -
With its characteristic butterfly plan, the Piazza di Spagna is one of the most famous images in the world, as well as being one of the most majestic urban monuments of Roman Baroque style. In the Renaissance period, the square was the most popular tourist attraction in the city: it attracted artists and writers alike and was full of elegant hotels, inns and residences.

At the end of the seventeenth century, it was called Trinità dei Monti, after the church that dominates the square from above, but it was later given the name we know today after the Spanish Ambassador who lived there.

At the foot of the stairs, you will find the famous Barcaccia Fountain, the work of Pietro Bernini and his son, Gian Lorenzo. The latter went on to become the creator of some of the most important masterpieces of Baroque art in the city, including the renowned baldachino of St. Peter's Basilica. With its characteristic form of a sinking ship, the fountain recalls the historic flood of the River Tiber in 1598 and refers to a folk legend whereby a fishing boat carried away by the flood of the river was found at this exact spot. In reality, the sinking boat was ably invented by Bernini to overcome a technical problem due to low water pressure. The sun and bee ornamentation is a symbol of the Barberini family and a reference to Pope Urban VIII who commissioned the work. However, the main attraction of the square has to be the spectacular staircase of Trinità dei Monti.

Built on the request of Innocent XII and created by Francesco De Sanctis in the eighteenth century, this daring architectural feat with its ramps and stairs that intersect and open out like a fan definitively provided a solution for connecting the square and the Trinità Church above, providing the city with a particularly intriguing attraction that is adored by tourists from all over the world. The sight of the square in spring should not be missed, when the ramps of the staircase are literally covered with flowers and the architecture is playfully lost beneath a magnificent array of colour.
http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/spanish_steps.htm

[siligut]

1. I was surprised when no one got that last night.

However, I think it was asked as if it were a tourist hangout, it really isn’t. When I visited years ago, it was wall to wall/step to step locals. Hip, young locals, hanging out and smoking cigarettes.

Did you see all the Jeopardy threads here? That was fun. You did great.

[MrCoffee]

7. I saw them...a certain Virginian (not naming any names) needs serious counseling.

I'm pretty sure it took about an hour and a half to end that one question. The clue threw me for a loop. I saw "153 national steps" and started thinking about UN facilities...maybe the International Criminal Court (which I knew was wrong) and then just froze up.

[Midlodemocrat]

12. I was simply doing my job as your publicist, freeper.

[Rosie1223]

2. I hope you haven't actually been to Rome

Congrats on your win!

[MrCoffee]

8. I have not.

Thanks!! :hi:

[TZ]

3. I'm more interested in knowing how come..

You didn't get any of the answers in the politician category..:P
Actually, I'm no slouch at Jeopardy and I didn't know about the Spanish Steps either..:shrug:

[MrCoffee]

9. They were quick on the buzzers...plus, when I blew the Nixon one,

the first thing I thought was "Midlo's gonna kill me!"


Weird what goes through your head.

[Bertha Venation]

4. Just like a Jeopardy! champ - learn from the ones you can't answer.

:thumbsup:

[MrCoffee]

10. LOL...I'll carry that one to the grave.

[flvegan]

5. Nice post, Gummo Marx.

[MrCoffee]

11. My BIL called me to say "It's Gummo, Dummo!"

Hardee har har.

[flvegan]

17. I really can't poke fun.

I guessed Groucho as well.

Even more embarrassing for me: as an admitted car nut, on the Enclave answer, I first yelled out "Pontiac!" then switched to Buick before Trebek corrected.

[flvegan]

16. .

I hate mornings.

[arcadian]

6. When I paint my masterpiece

Oh, the streets of rome are filled with rubble,
Ancient footprints are everywhere.
You can almost think that youre seein double
On a cold dark night on the Spanish Stairs.

Got to hurry on back to my hotel room,
Where Ive got me a date with Botticellis niece.
She promised that she'd be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece.

Oh, the hours Ive spent inside the coliseum,
Dodging lions and wastin time.
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle,
I could hardly stand to see em,
Yes, it sure has been a long hard climb.

Train wheels runnin thru the back of my memory,
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese.
Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody,
When I paint my masterpiece.

Sailin round the world in a dirty gondola,
Oh, to be back in the land of coca-cola!

I left Rome and landed in Brussels,
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried.
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin muscles,
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside.

Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held down by big police.
Someday, everything is gonna be diffrent
When I paint my masterpiece.

[MrCoffee]

13. Don't forget the horn and whatever other symbols for Clio there are.

[arcadian]

14. Which muse is Clio?

We were up at the National Gallery when they had a Pompeii exhibit, I think it just ended. They had a fresco depicting the different muses dug up from Pompeii. Pretty cool. I don't know how they transport such a thing, it looked very delicate.

[MrCoffee]

18. History

[DeepBlueC]

15. Without the Steps, Clio, Nixon, Final Jeopardy couldn't have been such a YESSSSSS moment

I thought I'd bust apart from holding my breath. Even though I was *very confident* you'd come through.

:toast: :beer: