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 language in the United States American Spanish in the United States. Spanish was among the very first European languages spoken in North America, preceded only by Old Norse. Spanish arrived in the territory of the modern United States in 1493, with Columbus' arrival to Puerto Rico. Ponce de León explored what is now Florida in 1513. In 1565, the Spaniards founded St. Augustine, Florida, and as of the early 1800s, it became the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in what is now the United States. In 1898, San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, became the oldest city in all of the U.S. territory: Juan