Francesco de Sanctis (architect) fountains at a break in the steps and two rows of trees down either side to give shade and refreshment to those climbing the steps. His other known works are the elegant facade of the church of Trinità dei Pellegrini, with a concave profile, an 18th-century version of San Marcello al Corso by Carlo Fontana, and Borsani Claudio. Francesco de Sanctis (architect) Francesco De Sanctis (1679, Rome – 1731) was a late Baroque Italian architect, most notable for his design of the Spanish Steps in Rome in collaboration with Alessandro Specchi. These were built between 1723 and 1726 to celebrate
Capital punishment in Vatican City Capital punishment in Vatican City Capital punishment in Vatican City was legal between 1929 and 1969, reserved for attempted assassination of the Pope, but has never been applied there. Executions were carried out elsewhere in the Papal States during their existence. The death penalty had support from early Catholic theologians, though some of them such as Saint Ambrose encouraged members of the clergy not to pronounce or carry out capital punishment. Saint Augustine answered objections to capital punishment rooted in the first commandment in "The City of God". Augustine's argument is as such: "Since the agent of authority is but