Huge EU row erupts over set of iconic steps as bold new detail emerges

A major European nation reacted with fury over a suggestion that one of its most prized historical landmarks may in fact be French.

14:21, Mon, Sep 30, 2024 | UPDATED: 14:37, Mon, Sep 30, 2024

Fountain of Boat and Spanish steps with Trinita dei Monti church in Rome

The city has reacted furiously to a suggestion that one of their most beloved landmarks is French. (Image: Getty)

A major row has erupted between two EU members over a set of historic steps in one of the continent's most celebrated cities.

The Spanish Steps are among Rome's most treasured landmarks along with St Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum, and became famous in the US after appearing in the 1953 film "Roman Holiday" starring Hollywood icons Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.

But a bitter row has erupted between Italy and France after a report revealed the staircase, which leads up to the church of Trinita de' Monti, may be French, rather than Italian.

It came after France's top auditor of public bodies made a brief mention of the steps in a report on the country's property portfolio in central Rome earlier this month, The Times reports.

According to the 107-page document from the Court of Accounts, the €200million (£167m) worth of assets includes five churches, and historic buildings rented as 180 flats, offices and shops generating around €4.5million (£3.7m) annually.

Audrey Hepburn Nibbles Ice Cream Cone

The steps played a starring role alongside Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. (Image: Getty)

The report also suggested that French assets include the Spanish Steps, which were built in the 1720s, funded by a French diplomat to the Holy See Etienne Gueffier who left a considerable fortune to finance construction when he died.

The court, which was apparently unaware how much of a stir the detail would cause in Italy, said the status of the steps would “benefit from being clarified”.

But Fabio Rampelli, vice-president of the Italian chamber of deputies, the lower house of the national parliament, rubbished the claim, calling it “laughable", suggesting Italy might reply in kind.

“Then we will send experts to the Louvre to make an up-to-date reconnaissance of the assets taken from Italy throughout history,” he suggested, referring to numerous masterpieces of Italian origin, including the Mona Lisa, that are displayed in France.

Italy’s tourism minister Daniela Santanchè also fired back angrily, asking: “What would France be without Italy? They cannot do without our luxury, our works, our beauty. But now they exaggerate. They even want to take the Spanish Steps of Trinità dei Monti.”

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Spanish steps

the President of the Court of Accounts, said he was "really very astonished" by the reaction to the report. (Image: Getty)

But Pierre Moscovici, the President of the Court of Accounts, said he was "really very astonished" by the response to the document.

"I want to reassure our Italian friends … there is no intention to privatise or to empty the meaning that those properties have." he told an Italian news agency.

The ownership of art has long been a source of tension between the two nations, with Napoleon’s men plundering various works during his reign, in what is thought to be one of the biggest art displacements in history, as per the outlet.

Gaël de Guichen, a former scientist in charge of studying the conservation of the Lascaux caves and their prehistoric paintings in France, told the The Times he believed the Italian claim is "completely false," adding "The steps are ours."

de Guichen has lived in the Italian capital for over 50 years working for intergovernmental body the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property.

He was also a member the Pious Establishments, a foundation which owns French assets in Italy, between 1993 and 2017 - though has since become a critic of the organisation.

In de Guichen's opinion the relationship between France and Italy is “a bit like France and England. We don’t like each other very much, but we like each other anyway".

He points out that, though the fact may annoy Italian politicians, foreign ownership of historical assets in the area are very common. “A large proportion, perhaps the majority, of the properties in the real medieval centre [of Rome] are owned by foreigners, by European countries,” he told the paper.

The steps have long been claimed by Rome as a public space, and introduced stiff penalties of up to €250 (£208) for simply sitting down on them in 2019.

Meanwhile, those who dirty the steps, including by dropping food, could be slapped with a €400 (£334) fine.