Spanish Steps novel, "Tender Is the Night". The Steps are featured in Anthony Burgess's 1977 novel, "Abba Abba". Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps () are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The monumental stairway of 174 steps (the slightly elevated drainage system is often mistaken for the first step) was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 "scudi", in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy, and the Trinità dei Monti church
Spanish Steps fleur-de-lys and Innocent XIII's eagle and crown are carefully balanced in the sculptural details. The solution is a gigantic inflation of some conventions of terraced garden stairs. The Spanish Steps, which Joseph de Lalande and Charles de Brosses noted were already in poor condition, have been restored several times, most recently in 1995. A new renovation commenced on October 8, 2015 and the steps reopened on September 21, 2016. In the Piazza di Spagna at the base is the Early Baroque fountain called "Fontana della Barcaccia" ("Fountain of the longboat"), built in 1627–29 and often credited to Pietro Bernini, father