Rome. Piazza Di Spagna and the Corso.

The most self-consciously glamorous spot in Rome, the azalea-decked Spanish Steps rise from a crowded piazza to a rosy church flanked by palm trees - it's no wonder postcard photographers abound. For years this area was the artistic and literary center of Rome, but today artists of haute couture have replaced scribbling poets and portrait painters. Lament the loss over an espresso at L'Antica Caffe Greco, indulge in some high-end retail-therapy, or simply sit on the steps with a gelato and enjoy your Roman Holiday - just like Audrey Hepburn.

The Spanish Steps and P. di Spagna were once literally Spanish; the area around the Spanish ambassador's residence, located in the western end of the hourglass-shaped piazza since 1622, once held the privilege of extra-territoriality. Wandering foreigners who fell asleep there were liable to wake up the next morning as grunts in the Spanish army. Nowadays, they're more likely to wake up with no wallet.

Spanish Steps

Designed by an Italian, paid for by the French, named for the Spaniards, occupied by the British, and currently under the sway of American ambassador-at-large Ronald McDonald, the Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Spagna) often appear as if they could be an alternate location for the United Nations. The 137 steps were constructed from 1723 to 1725 to link the piazza with important locales above it, including the Pincio and the Villa Mèdici. The beginning of May heralds the world-famous flower show, when the steps are covered with azaleas and photographers, and each July an evening fashion show is held on the steps. When the steps first opened, Romans hoping to earn extra scudi as artists' models flocked to the steps dressed as the Madonna and Julius Caesar. Posers of a different sort abound today, and dressing like a virgin does not seem to be the main objective. Each night, hordes of testosterone-injected adolescent males, along with tipsy foreigners imitating their Italian counterparts, descend on the piazza in search of women

Fontana Della Baraccia

Barges are not known for their inspirational qualities, but when one such vessel washed up in the piazza after the Tiber flooded on Christmas Day, 1598, Gian Lorenzo Bernini's less famous father Pietro decided to immortalize it in stone. To compensate for meager water pressure, the fountain was built below ground level.

Church of Sant'Andrea Delle Fratte

Capped by a Borromini bell tower (on which eight delicate angels fold their wings while small faces peek out of the Corinthian columns on the lower ring), Sant'Andrea's definite strength is its exterior. Nonetheless, should you have the time to tear your eyes away from Bernini's angels (and the other, even more delectable angels in the P. di Spagna), head inside to see the two seraphim near the altar, other Bernini works that originally decorated the Ponte Sant'Angelo. Their companions can still be seen along the bridge in front of Castel Sant'Angelo. Also make sure to stop at the second chapel on the left, dedicated to the miraculous appearance of the Madonna to Jewish banker Alphonse Ratisbonne on January 20, 1842. Alphonse immediately converted to Christianity, became a man of the cloth, and later worked as a missionary in Palestine. Hundreds of lace hearts now hang on the altar and its surrounding columns to commemorate the event.

Trevi Fountain

Nicolo Salvi's (1697-1751) extravagant and now sparkling clean Fontana di Trevi emerges from the back wall of Palazzo Poli. The fountain was completed in 1762 by Giuseppe Pannini, who may have altered the original design. The fountain may also have been based on designs by Bernini which elaborated on a simpler one by Leon Battista Alberti; the idea for combining the fountain and palazzo was based on a project by da Cortona. Regardless of its dubious architectural heritage, Fontana di Trevi has become a Roman staple, thanks to countless filmmakers (and the pack-instinct of most tourists).

Reliefs and Sculptures

Not surprisingly, the figure in the middle of the fountain is Neptune, the god of the sea. Neptune's chariot is drawn by two winged horses, with two Tritons (representing calm and stormy seas, respectively) guiding his progress. Allegories of Abundance and Health can be found in the two niches on either side of the burly mermen, while the Four Seasons calmly survey the madness from on high, just under the Corsini family arms. In good old Roman style, the fountain's source is an aqueduct - specifically the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, which also supplies the spouts in P. Navona and P. di Spagna. The relief at the top of the fountain on the left shows the fountain's namesake, Trivia, the maiden who allegedly pointed out the spring for the aqueduct to thirsty Roman soldiers. The opposite relief shows Augustus's right-hand man, Agrippa, giving the go-ahead for the aqueduct in 19 BC.

The fountain cleverly incorporates the facade of the palazzo into its design, effectively becoming a part of the piazza's architecture. Not everyone in the neighborhood was happy about this project, however; it's said that the proprietor of 85 Via del Stamperia complained so loudly and for so long that a wave was built in front of his store - business has been bad ever since. Just above the wave, notice that the window on the upper right is not a window at all, but a painting of one. A young Corsini took his own life one day by taking a dive out of that window, and his family bricked it up.