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
Spanish Steps of the English Romantic generation. On the same right side stands the 15th-century former cardinal Lorenzo Cybo de Mari's palace, now Ferrari di Valbona, a building altered in 1936 to designs by Marcello Piacentini, the main city planner during Fascism, with modern terraces perfectly in harmony with the surrounding baroque context. At the top, the stairway ramp up the "Pincio" which is the Pincian Hill. From the top of the steps the Villa Medici can be reached. During Christmas time a 19th-century criba manger is displayed on the first landing of the staircase. During Springtime, just before the anniversary of