Trinita dei Monti Church,Italy

Trinita dei Monti Church,Rome,Italy

Piazza di Spagna was at the center of the Strangers' Quarter, the triangle made by Via del Corso, Via Frattina and Via del Babuino, where most of the foreigners lived, in particular painters and sculptors. It was named after the Spanish Embassy (on the right). Vasi preferred to show Piazza di Spagna seen from the north-west giving emphasis to the Palace of Propaganda Fide by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and to the bell tower of S. Andrea delle Fratte by Francesco Borromini. He showed Piazza di Spagna seen from the south-west (giving emphasis to the Spanish Steps) in plate 128.The view is taken from the green dot in the map below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Steps leading to SS. Trinitเ dei Monti; 2) Palazzo di Propaganda Fide; 3) Palazzo di Spagna; 4) Fontana della Barcaccia; 5) Campanile di S. Andrea delle Fratte. 5) is covered in another page. The small 1785 map shows also 6) SS. Trinitเ dei Monti; 7) S. Atanasio dei Greci; 8) Colonna dell'Immacolata.

The only change relates to the Column of the Immacolata erected by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Otherwise what we see today is what Vasi shows in his plate (the image was taken on December 8th while waiting for the arrival of the pope for the commemoration of the Immaculate Conception).

The Steps (called by the Italians Scalinata della Trinitเ dei Monti) were built in 1721-25 by Francesco de Sanctis to link the Piazza with the church of Trinitเ dei Monti. The curved lines of the Spanish Steps recall Porto di Ripetta built in 1704 by Alessandro Specchi.Costs were born by France (a donation had been made in 1655 by a French gentleman) to which the church belonged and the piers and the globes at the beginning of the steps have the fleurs-de-lis of the Bourbon family together with the chequered eagle of Pope Innocentius XIII. John Keats lived and died in the pink house to the right of the steps.
The church was built in 1519, but the fa็ade was completed towards the end of the XVIth century. The steps were built by Domenico Fontana in 1586-1588 and the coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V is still visible on the pillars. Both bell towers had a clock: one followed the Italian practice, while the other one followed the French practice (to learn more about the Italian hour click here). In 1789 Pope Pius VI erected in front of the church an obelisk found near Porta Salara. The top of the obelisk shows a lily and a star which are heraldic symbols of Pius VI .

The fountain was built by Pietro Bernini with the assistance of his son Gian Lorenzo at a very low level because of poor water pressure. The fountain is decorated with the sun of Urbanus VIII. See Filippo Juvarra's plate of the coat of arms by G. L. Bernini.

Colosseum; Rome

Colosseum; Rome

Roman Colosseum Commentary

The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater was begun by Vespasian, inaugurated by Titus in 80 A.D. and completed by Domitian. Located on marshy land between the Esquiline and Caelian Hills, it was the first permanent amphitheater to be built in Rome. Its monumental size and grandeur as well as its practical and efficient organization for producing spectacles and controlling the large crowds make it one of the great architectural monuments achieved by the ancient Romans.
The amphitheater is a vast ellipse with tiers of seating for 50,000 spectators around a central elliptical arena. Below the wooden arena floor, there was a complex set of rooms and passageways for wild beasts and other provisions for staging the spectacles. Eighty walls radiate from the arena and support vaults for passageways, stairways and the tiers of seats. At the outer edge circumferential arcades link each level and the stairways between levels.
The three tiers of arcades are faced by three-quarter columns and entablatures, Doric in the first story, Ionic in the second, and Corinthian in the third. Above them is an attic story with Corinthian pilasters and small square window openings in alternate bays. At the top brackets and sockets carry the masts from which the velarium, a canopy for shade, was suspended.
The construction utilized a careful combination of types: concrete for the foundations, travertine for the piers and arcades, tufa infill between piers for the walls of the lower two levels, and brick-faced concrete used for the upper levels and for most of the vaults.

Details
The Colosseum was designed to hold 50,000 spectators, and it had approximately eighty entrances so crowds could arrive and leave easily and quickly.
The plan is a vast ellipse, measuring externally 188 m x 156 m (615 ft x 510 ft), with the base of the building covering about 6 acres. Vaults span between eighty radial walls to support tiers of seating and for passageways and stairs.
The facade of three tiers of arches and an attic story is about 48.5 m (158 ft) tall — roughly equivalent to a 12-15 story building.