Protective barriers are to be set up around the Trevi Fountain in Rome to prevent tourists from sitting on one of the Italian capital’s most iconic monuments.
The motion, approved by Rome’s city council in late January, includes a call to stop unauthorized vendors from selling their merchandise on the streets around the fountain as well as around the Colosseum; in addition, it recommends permanent patrolling in the Roman Forum, the shopping areas that include Via del Corso, Via del Babuino and Via Condotti, and at the Spanish Steps.
“It’s a common sense proposition that aims to protect one of the most important and visited monuments in Rome,” Rome’s mayor Virginia Raggi wrote on Facebook. “I want to explain the idea, in order to avoid baseless controversies. The barriers would be similar to those already in place at many other fountains in Rome, such as the Turtle Fountain in Piazza Mattei and the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. They would not obscure the view of the Trevi Fountain and would still allow the traditional tossing of coins, a ritual for anyone visiting our city.”
“I would also like to add that in this way our traffic policemen could focus on overseeing the entire square, which we freed from the stalls that obstructed the view, so they can tackle abusive sellers,” Raggi also wrote on Facebook.
The ban that should prevent people from sitting on the sides of the fountain basin has been in force for a year, but it is not always respected. Sometimes tourists even climb into the fountain to mimic the famous scene from Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita movie.
