The Keats-Shelley House

Winter: Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 1:00; 2:30 - 5:30 Summer: Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 1:00; 3:00 - 6:00

In 1820, English poet John Keats went to Rome, seeking a change in climate to cure his tuberculosis. He moved into a house near the famous Spanish steps. This house is now open as a museum for public tours.

The Piazza di Spagna was constructed during the 1720s.The cut stone stairway was the creation of architect Alessandro Specchi who designed several other architectural structures in Rome.

Keats and Shelley are not the only writers who visited the Piazza di Spagna. George Eliot, Goethe, Coleridge, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, and others also spent time in Rome. The Keats-Shelley House contains an extensive collection of manuscripts and papers relating to Keats, Shelley, and Byron. Tourists may also find a variety of memorabilia relating to Milton, Elizabeth Barrett, Oscar Wilde, and William Wordsworth.

Literary tourists should be sure to schedule time for a tour through the Keats-Shelley House while in Rome. You may also want to go to Rome's Testacchio Protestant Cemetery where Keats is buried.

John Keats (1795-1821)

Although he lived only a short time, English poet John Keats influenced people around the world and through many generations. At age 16, he became an apprentice to an apothecary and went on to study medicine in preparation for a career as a surgeon. The interest in literature and writing poetry that he had developed in his early school years, did not fade, and in 1817 he turned to writing full time, deserting his medical career.

"To a Nightingale" and "On a Grecian Urn" are perhaps the most familiar of Keats' poems. His belief that true happiness comes from nature is reflected in his works. Keats' keen insight and his ability to chose descriptive words to invoke the senses of readers made him one of the most influential poets of his generation.

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