Trinità dei Monti
French church crowning the Spanish Steps, built by royal command to celebrate a conquest of Naples.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Trinità dei Monti in Rome follows an unlikely thread: how a French king's campaign in Italy in 1494 led to a French monastery, then a full French church, rising on this ridge above the city. You'll hear how construction dragged for nearly a century, interrupted by the Sack of Rome, before the church was finally consecrated, and about the ancient Egyptian-style obelisk raised in front of it centuries later. Listen for what its inscription and its pedestal reveal about which country actually built it.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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