The Spanish Steps climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The monumental stairway of 135 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier's bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1725, linking the Trinità dei Monti church under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France and the Spanish Embassy at the top of the steps to the Holy See in the Palazzo Monaldeschi at the bottom of the steps.