monumentalarchitecture

The Tridente: Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps

The three streets that fan from one square, the twin churches, and Keats's last window.

Photo: DellaGherardesca / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

2.6 km

Time

~ 55 min

Difficulty

Moderate

Start

Flaminio (Metro A)

End

Spagna (Metro A)

Best at

morning

Right now

31°C· Partly cloudy

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

The Tridente is Rome showing off its geometry: three dead-straight streets fanning south from one square, laid out so a pilgrim arriving from the north would feel the city open up in front of them. Walk it the same direction and it still works.

Start in Piazza del Popolo, under the obelisk Augustus brought back from Egypt. Duck into Santa Maria del Popolo first — two Caravaggios in a side chapel, free, and almost nobody looking. Then pick your prong. The middle one, Via del Corso, is the shopping spine and the obvious choice; I'd take the eastern one, Via del Babuino, for the antique shops and the calm.

Either way you land at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, with Bernini's sunken-boat fountain in front and Trinità dei Monti at the top. The climb is the famous part, but the quiet stop is the Keats-Shelley House on the right — the room where Keats died, and the window looking straight down the Steps he never recovered enough to climb. Spagna on Metro A is below you.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 208 m·↓ 201 m·23–65 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Piazza del Popolo
Start in the oval where three streets meet. The Egyptian obelisk in the centre is older than the city around it. Walk to the southern end and look back before you leave — the twin churches frame the whole thing on purpose.
01
Piazza del Popolo
Start in the oval where three streets meet. The Egyptian obelisk in the centre is older than the city around it. Walk to the southern end and look back before you leave — the twin churches frame the whole thing on purpose.
02
2
Santa Maria del Popolo
On the north-east corner, easy to walk past. Two Caravaggios hang in the Cerasi Chapel — the Crucifixion of St Peter and the Conversion of St Paul — and you can see them for nothing. Bring a coin for the light box.
02
Santa Maria del Popolo
On the north-east corner, easy to walk past. Two Caravaggios hang in the Cerasi Chapel — the Crucifixion of St Peter and the Conversion of St Paul — and you can see them for nothing. Bring a coin for the light box.
03
3
The twin churches
Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto look identical from the square; they aren't quite. Take the middle prong, Via del Corso, between them and walk straight south into the shopping run.
03
The twin churches
Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto look identical from the square; they aren't quite. Take the middle prong, Via del Corso, between them and walk straight south into the shopping run.
04
4
Via del Babuino
Slip off the Corso onto the eastern prong instead — the antique-dealer street, quieter, with the half-man-half-goat fountain that gave it its name. It runs you straight down to the foot of the Steps.
04
Via del Babuino
Slip off the Corso onto the eastern prong instead — the antique-dealer street, quieter, with the half-man-half-goat fountain that gave it its name. It runs you straight down to the foot of the Steps.
05
5
The Spanish Steps
The Barcaccia fountain by Bernini's father sits at the bottom; the church of Trinità dei Monti closes the top. Climb the hundred and thirty-five steps slowly, or sit on them and watch — sitting is now fined, so keep moving.
05
The Spanish Steps
The Barcaccia fountain by Bernini's father sits at the bottom; the church of Trinità dei Monti closes the top. Climb the hundred and thirty-five steps slowly, or sit on them and watch — sitting is now fined, so keep moving.
06
6
Keats-Shelley House
The ochre house at the foot of the Steps, right-hand side, is where John Keats died at twenty-five. Two small rooms of letters and death masks. Go in even if poetry isn't your thing; the window over the Steps is the point.
06
Keats-Shelley House
The ochre house at the foot of the Steps, right-hand side, is where John Keats died at twenty-five. Two small rooms of letters and death masks. Go in even if poetry isn't your thing; the window over the Steps is the point.

The Tridente: Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps

On the map.

Things to notice.

Piazza del Popolo

Piazza del Popolo

Santa Maria del Popolo

Santa Maria del Popolo

The twin churches

The twin churches

Via del Babuino

Via del Babuino

The Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps

Keats-Shelley House

Keats-Shelley House

Two more, on similar days.

Centro Storico: the Pantheon and Piazza Navona

The Quirinale: the palace hill and the Trevi done right