Take a close look at the Trevi Fountain, jewel of Roman Baroque and target tourists from all over the world, and complying with the tradition of the draw will cost 2 euros to “guarantee a unique experience” to its more than 10,000 daily visitors, a measure that, surprisingly, many tourists seem to support.
The unexpected announcement from the Councilor for Tourism of Rome, Alessandro Onoratohas raised a dust storm as the Italian capital, Europe’s most visited in 2023 with 50 million tourists, prepares to receive 30 more in 2025 for the Jubilee. And the city council wants the measure to be ready by then.
“We want to guarantee a unique, special and serene experience to all visitors, who unfortunately today, when they arrive at the Trevi Fountain, have to face total chaos,” Onorato told EFE, stressing that the first objective of the entrance is “to protect an extraordinary monument.”
The famous fountain, a monumental Baroque work integrated into the façade of the Renaissance “Palazzo Poli”, can continue to be consulted for free from afar, but anyone who wants to go down the steps, observe it up close and throw a coin will have to reserve a 2 euro note, except for the Romans, for whom it will continue to be free.
Between 10,000 and 12,000 people visit this place every day. The fountain has become a global icon thanks to cinema: “Tourists who rush to take a selfie, others who eat without worrying about not getting dirty around them and there are those who, to go viral on social networks with a video, decide to jump into the water,” laments the advisor.
The fountain, built in 1762 on one of the aqueducts of ancient Rome by order of Pope Clement.
“The money raised will be dedicated to create new jobs“, as hostesses and hostesses to better manage the flow of visitors and protect the monument,” explains Onorato. A destination very different from the coins thrown by tourists from all over the world, almost a million euros a year, they confirmed to EFE. sources of the City of Rome, which is donated to the humanitarian organization Caritas.
Onorato confirmed to EFE that he will meet in the coming days with the mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, who has already expressed his support, and the local police to study the closure measures, while opinions are divided on an initiative that tourists seem to accept better than expected.
“I would pay if I had the privilege of seeing better, now it is almost impossible to have a good view,” says Linda, from the Netherlands, in front of the fountain, with whom Beatriz, from the Spanish city of Cordoba, agrees: “I would not be so crowded.”
Italian visitors, however, complain, and Elena, from Calabria (south), defends that “anyone who visits Rome has the right to see the Trevi Fountain without having to pay”. “They have already installed many payment points in Rome, it seems excessive to me”, laments Raffaella from Bergamo (north).
