France claims Trinità dei Monti Steps in Rome? The superintendent: "groundless controversy"

Used in famous movie scenes, immortalized by thousands of visitors each year, and used as a catwalk by some of the biggest designers in contemporary fashion, the famous Spanish Steps of Trinità dei Monti was recently cited in a report by the Paris Court of Auditors that criticized Italy for too “sloppy” management of some of the French churches in the city of Rome, including the Trinità dei Monti complex. The document was also interpreted as a claim by France to claim ownership of the steps themselves. In addition, according to the Paris Court of Accounts, rental income from French properties in Rome is supposed to guarantee the maintenance of the churches and their artistic assets.

In the capital, French property includes five churches and numerous properties within its historic center. Among the main assets are the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, which houses three canvases by Caravaggio, the church of Sant’Ivo dei Bretoni, the church of Santi Andrea e Claudio dei Borgognoni, the church of San Nicola dei Lorenesi, the Trinità dei Monti Complex, and other real estate such as Villa Medici. But why are there French buildings on Roman soil? And what, therefore, is the reason for the report of the Court of Auditors of Paris with respect to the Trinità dei Monti Steps?

In 1790, Pope Pius VI decided to entrust Cardinal François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, then French ambassador to the Holy See, with the unified management of all French religious buildings in Rome by bringing them together under a single administration: the Pieux établissements de la France à Rome. The institution thus had the management and maintenance of various French properties, including churches and historic palaces. The 136-step Spanish Steps of Trinità dei Monti is a work of art in Rome’s Campo Marzio district that connects the Pincio Hill with the Spanish Steps. It was commissioned by the French cardinal Pierre Guérin de Tencin (Grenoble, 1680 - Lyon, 1758) and built between 1723 and 1725 thanks to the financing of the French patron Étienne Gueffier, who invested a considerable sum of twenty thousand scudi at the time for its construction. The decision to build the staircase was motivated by the desire to create an impactful access to the church of Santissima Trinità dei Monti, one of the five French Catholic churches in Rome, located at the top of the staircase itself. In addition to this, a commemorative plaque along the steps also commemorates its construction in 1725 under the guidance of architect Francesco De Sanctis during the papacy of Benedict XIII Orsini. The same plaque mentions the French contribution to the work, citing King Louis XV of France and Cardinal Melchior de Polignac.

According to French Court of Auditors judges, French assets in Rome “are not adequately put to use.” In fact, the report criticizes Italian management of the mentioned assets pointing out security problems and stressing that “the staircase was built with French funds at the beginning of the 18th century and subsequently maintained for decades by the Pieux établissements de la France, custodians of the assets beyond the Alps, but also, on several occasions in recent years, by the City of Rome, including through sponsorships.” In the Fascist era, there was then considerable pressure from the Mussolini government to return the assets of the Pieux établissements, including the Villa Medici, to Italian representatives. However, the aggregation process was interrupted by François de Vial, an official of the French Embassy to the Holy See. De Vial managed to negotiate with the help of Giovanni Battista Montini (future Pope Paul VI) to prevent the transfer of these properties under Italian control.

For this reason, the Trinità dei Monti area in Rome is at the center of the controversy related to the testamentary bequest of Gueffier, who died in 1660. The French diplomat, employed at the French Embassy to the Holy See under various popes (Urban VIII, Innocent X and Alexander VII), in fact left two separate wills: one for assets in France and one for those in Italy. In the will regarding the Italian assets, he allocated the twenty thousand scudi to the construction of the Spanish Steps at Trinità dei Monti, with a binding clause to use the funds for that purpose. The amount was later halved post mortem to favor his nephew, Cristoforo Chappus, a decision that the “French Minimes of Trinità dei Monti” deemed insufficient. In 1717, Pope Clement XI intervened by ordering a quantification of the funds left by Gueffier, which finally allowed the construction of the Trinità dei Monti Steps to begin. Currently, the issue of ownership and management of the Scalinata remains controversial in any case, and the French Court of Auditors has stressed the need for a “confirmation of the legal status” of the monument to clarify responsibilities in terms of maintenance and restoration.

“But what would France be without Italy. They cannot do without our luxury, our works, our beauty. But now they exaggerate,” writes declares Daniela Santanchè, Minister of Tourism, on X.

“The French Court of Auditors has made a reconnaissance of the real estate owned by the French state in Rome. A list in which Trinità dei Monti would also fall by avocating its ownership. It is laughable. Well, we’ll send experts to the Louvre to do the updated reconnaissance of the property taken from Italy throughout history, especially that of the 19th century or given away by geniuses perhaps forced to deprive themselves of renowned works of art that have made the Louvre the most visited museum in the world. Comedians,” argues Fabio Rampelli, vice president of the Chamber of Deputies of Fratelli d’Italia.

“It is a groundless controversy,” then explained Claudio Parisi Presicce, Capitoline superintendent of cultural heritage, who intervened to clarify and close the controversy “because there is no claim on the French side. The Scalinata is a monumental place of the highest artistic value, but it is also a public passage and is therefore without discussion an integral part of Rome as the capital of Italy. There seems to me to be some confusion on this matter and it is important first of all to separate the assessments of the French Court of Auditors against the administration of the Pieux établissements de la France in Rome from the management of the Spanish Steps.” The staircase “from the 20th century onward has always been maintained, restored and managed in all aspects by the municipal administrations of Rome. Only in the most recent period do I remember the two major restorations in 1995 and then in 2014 and the continuous maintenance and restoration work always carried out by Roma Capitale on one of the most iconic places in the city, which has become an undisputed symbol of modern Rome, frequented daily by thousands of people. For its realization there was French economic contribution that however did not cover all the expenses.”

Later in the evening, the president of the French Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, also spoke, saying, “I want to reassure our Italian friends: the report only asks for a clarification of the situation of the assets, and when it is clarified it is always positive. I am really very astonished that one can interpret and distort the meaning of a report of the French Court of Auditors.” According to Moscovici, the report is directed “at the French and in particular the Pieux Etablissements for their management of religious assets in Italy.” So, according to him, he does not claim the Scalinata. “There can always be ambiguities but the Court is asking for a clarification of the situation as an administrator. There is not and could not be in a Corte dei Conti report any intention to do anything with those assets that have been managed for centuries, no intention to privatize, or to empty them of the meaning that those properties have. The judges are only asking that those ancient agreements between France and the Holy See be clarified today. These are agreements from centuries ago that must be adapted to the present time. In short, the goal is to bring law into agreement with facts.”

France claims Trinità dei Monti Steps in Rome? The superintendent: "groundless controversy"

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