When the city of Rome built what appears to be a swimming pool in front of the famous Trevi Fountain for tourists to throw in their coins while the monument is empty for renovations, the reaction was swift — and brutal.
Built last week, the pool is decorated with unpainted plywood and sits behind a tall fence covered in clear plastic, over which tourists throw coins in the hope of hitting the water. The coins scattered around the perimeter highlight just how challenging this is.
According to a police officer who declined to be named, present at the site on Saturday to maintain order, the pool was built mainly to protect workers at the empty fountain from being hit by coins.
Furthermore, it also works to ensure it continues to raise 1.5 million euros (around R$9.1 million) per year in coins, donated to charity.
“The basin, which is temporary and was placed during special maintenance of the fountain, serves to collect coins thrown by tourists,” Claudio Parisi Presicce, superintendent of Rome’s cultural heritage, told CNN Travel . “It’s a very beloved and consolidated tradition.”
Less politely, online commentators have fired their own criticisms of the new building, deriding it in the .
Another, posting as Mambo Italiano, described it as: “The saddest thing I’ve seen in Italy in a long time.”
Entrance fee
Legend — or at least the movie world — says that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, it guarantees a return to Rome. Two coins mean you will fall in love with an attractive Italian, and three coins mean you will marry that person. Other legends tend to pay homage to water gods.
The extensive 300,000-euro (approximately R$1.8 million) renovation that began at the beginning of October should finish in time for the 2025 celebrations in Rome, to mark the year of “jubilee” in the Roman Catholic Church, which should attract millions of visitors to the city.
Meanwhile, a metal walkway is being erected over the empty fountain so tourists can get a close-up view of the sculpture of Oceano, the Titan God of Earth, depicted with galloping horses.
The walkway will eventually be altered to make way for tourists to be charged a two-euro fee to get close enough to drop their coins, which, if realized, would begin in April 2025.
City authorities have yet to fully approve the measures, including the cordoning off of the entire square, following complaints from local shops and residents when it was first announced. Coins are removed twice a day and the pool is emptied and refilled every morning.
Vacationing the Trevi Fountain: the new location where tourists throw their coins in Rome pic.twitter.com/C4iyKCZfKt
— El Debate (@eldebate_com) November 2, 2024
The post Trevi Fountain’s temporary swimming pool causes outrage in Italy; understand appeared first on CNN Brasil V&G.
Source: CNN Brasil
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