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The Spanish Steps and its surroundings were built with French funds. The Trinità dei Monti church was built by Louis XII, and the steps linked this to the embassy of Spain just off of the lower piazza. This was a symbol of the power of the House of Bourbon, which was the ruling royal family in both France and Spain.
The ascent on the opposite side to the iconic snicket, worn down by a million pairs of clogs, boots and shoes.
Foto: Johannes Dietschi © Hochschulkommunikation ZHdK. Freie Verwendung im Rahmen von Ankündigung und Berichterstattung zur Produktion
The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind.
The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The ludii (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times.
The round façade of the building was originally composed of white and pink limestone from Valpolicella; but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the structure's outer ring, except for the so-called "ala", the stone was quarried for re-use in other buildings.
The first interventions to recover the arena's function as a theatre began during the Renaissance. Some operatic performances were later mounted in the building during the 1850s, owing to its outstanding acoustics.
In 1913, operatic performances in the arena commenced in earnest due to the zeal and initiative of the great Italian opera tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the impresario Ottone Rovato. The first 20th-century operatic production at the arena, a staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, took place on 10 August of that year, to mark the birth af Verdi a 100 years before in 1813. Musical luminaries such as Puccini and Mascagni were in attendance. Since then, summer seasons of opera have been mounted continually at the arena, except in 1915-18 and 1940-45, when Europe was convulsed in war.
Nowadays, four productions are mounted each year between June and August. During the winter months, the local opera and ballet companies perform at the L'Accademia Filarmonica.
Modern-day travellers are advised that admission tickets to sit on the arena's stone steps are much cheaper to buy than tickets giving access to the padded chairs available on lower levels. Candles are distributed to the audience and lit after sunset around the arena.
Every year over 500,000 people see spectacular productions of the popular operas in this arena. Once capable of housing 20,000 patrons per performance (now limited to 15,000 because of safety reasons), the arena has featured many of world's most notable opera singers. In the post-World War Two era, they have included included Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi and Renata Tebaldi among other celebrated names. A number of famous conductors have appeared there, too. The official arena shop has historical recordings made by some of them available for sale.
In recent times, the Verona Arena has also housed concerts of popular music bands such as The Who, Ennio Morricone, Kiss, Simply Red, Simple Minds, Pearl Jam, Muse, Elton John, Tina Turner and Björk.
Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, Radamès is loved by the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris, although he does not return her feelings.
The opera is in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini.
Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write the opera for performance in January 1871, paying him 150,000 francs, but the premiere was delayed because of the Franco-Prussian War. Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, nor that of the Khedivial Opera House (which opened with Verdi's Rigoletto) in the same year. Verdi had been asked to compose an ode for the opening of the Canal, but declined on the grounds that he did not write "occasional pieces".
Foto: Johannes Dietschi © Hochschulkommunikation ZHdK. Freie Verwendung im Rahmen von Ankündigung und Berichterstattung zur Produktion
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Bedruthan Steps is a stretch of coastline located on the north Cornish coast between Padstow and Newquay, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is within the parish of St Eval and is part owned by the National Trust. The Trust maintains a shop and cafe and the cliff–top view of rocks stretching into the distance along Bedruthan beach makes the area a popular attraction for tourists and painters. The property affords walks along the coast path and the steep steps at Bedruthan allow access to a series of rocky beaches at low tide (not owned by the Trust). Signs at the top of the steps down to the beaches warn visitors not to risk swimming in these waters due to heavy rips, fast tides and submerged rocks.
You know it's a steep street when the sidewalk has steps. Painted steps in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
Steps that lead down to the crater lake from the crater rim.
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Jan van Grunsven and Arno van der Mark's proposal for the Schenkstrook was chosen from a number of sketch plans that were developed at the request of of Ed 't Hoen from the REO municipal services and included those of Onno Dirker, Erick de Lyon, Urs Pfannenmüller, Linda Pollack and David Veldhoen.
The artists developed their plan in collaboration with the City Office of Urban Development. Van Grunsven and Van der Mark noticed that the course of the Schenkstrook area, running from the center along office buildings to the green edge of the city, had a range of atmospheres. They wanted to emphasize that in their plan for redevelopment. They chose the middle, between the Prinses Beatrixlaan and the Wilhelmina van Pruisenweg, as the area where they wanted to create an emphatically different form; albeit with existing elements available for road and park construction.
Through their efforts, this piece of road (with a length of 241 meters or 301 steps) makes its mark by a slight change of level and blue street lighting at night (Daylight/Tungsten).
The green area of the banks has been widened to twice its size, while the single lane road with adjacent bike and pedestrian lanes has been reduced to one clear, hard asphalt surface. Nature and city lie sharply contrasted next to each other without any soft transition area between traffic and greenery. Thanks to the artists' endeavours, the visual arts have become an equal partner in this public space.