Trinità dei Monti & Keats

What is at the top of the Spanish Steps?

The church of Trinità dei Monti, an Egyptian-style obelisk, and a terrace with a view down Via dei Condotti to St Peter's dome.

The church was founded in 1502 by King Louis XII of France, and its twin bell towers are what you see in every photo of the Steps. The Obelisco Sallustiano in front of it is a Roman copy of an Egyptian obelisk, set up here in 1789. Turn round at the balustrade and Via dei Condotti runs straight away from you towards the Tiber, with the dome of St Peter's on the skyline.

Left along the road, Villa Medici and then the Pincio terrace. Right, Via Sistina heads to Piazza Barberini.

What are the opening hours of Trinità dei Monti?

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10:15 to 19:45; Wednesday 12:00 to 19:45; Sunday 9:00 to 19:30. Entry is free, and visits stop during services.

The hours are from the church's own site. Mass and the sung offices of the community take priority, so a 10-minute window can close without notice; come back after.

Dress as for any church in Rome: shoulders and knees covered. A light scarf in your bag solves it in summer.

What is inside Trinità dei Monti?

Side chapels painted by Daniele da Volterra, a pupil of Michelangelo, including his Deposition; and, in the convent, rare anamorphic frescoes you can only see on a guided tour.

Daniele da Volterra's Deposition from the Cross is the church's best-known painting; it is in the second chapel on the left. The interior is quieter than you would expect with thousands of people on the Steps outside, and it's one of the few places nearby where you can sit down legally.

The convent behind holds two 17th-century anamorphoses: wall paintings that only make sense from one angle, a mathematical trick of the Minim friars who lived here. You need a guided visit for those, below.

How do you visit the Trinità dei Monti convent?

Only on a guided tour booked in advance by email. It costs €15, €6 for under-18s and students, and is free under 8.

The visits page of Trinità dei Monti lists the tours and the email address. Tours cover the cloister, the refectory with its trompe-l'oeil ceiling and the two anamorphoses. Book a week or two ahead in high season, and ask for a date and language when you write.

What is the Keats-Shelley House?

The house at Piazza di Spagna 26, right of the Steps, where the poet John Keats died on 23 February 1821. It is now a museum of the English Romantic poets.

Keats came to Rome in 1820 hoping the climate would cure his tuberculosis and rented two rooms here with his friend, the painter Joseph Severn. He died in the small room overlooking the Steps, aged 25. The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association bought the house in 1906; it keeps a library of Keats, Shelley and Byron material, letters, portraits and a death mask.

It is small: give it 45 minutes. Even visitors who have never read Keats tend to come out moved by the room and the view from its window.

Meet in front of the Keats-Shelley House at dusk, then Trevi, the Pantheon and Navona with a guide. From $40.

★ 5.0 · 3 hours · from $40

Explore the evening walk from the Keats-Shelley House → Tour details

What are the Keats-Shelley House opening hours and ticket prices?

Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:45; closed Sunday. Adults €7; under 18, over 65 and students €5; under 6 free.

Figures from the museum's opening hours page. Booking ahead is possible but rarely needed. Disabled visitors enter free. The museum is up a flight of stairs inside the building, so ask about access before you go if stairs are a problem.

Is Villa Medici worth visiting from the Spanish Steps?

Yes, if you like gardens. It is a three-minute walk left from the top of the Steps; guided visits of the gardens and Renaissance rooms cost €18 and take 90 minutes.

Villa Medici has housed the French Academy in Rome since 1803. The guided visit covers the formal gardens, the belvedere with its view over the city and Ferdinando de' Medici's painted studiolo. It runs every day except Tuesday, 9:30 to 19:00, in English, French, Italian and Spanish. Under-18s go free.

Most of the visit is outdoors and the villa allows no strollers or large bags.

How do you get to the top of the Spanish Steps without climbing?

Take the lifts inside Spagna metro station towards the Villa Borghese exit, or walk the level Via Sistina from Piazza Barberini to Trinità dei Monti.

The Spagna station on metro line A has a lower exit by the foot of the Steps and an upper route with lifts and moving walkways towards Porta Pinciana and Villa Borghese. Via Sistina is the road route: about 600 metres from Piazza Barberini, gently uphill, and it brings you out right beside the church.

Coming down is easier than going up, which is why many people take the lift or Via Sistina first and walk down the Steps after. Our getting-there guide has the metro and bus details.

Frequently asked questions