(ANSA) - Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni congratulated himself Monday on having purged one of the capital's most famous piazzas of street artists and hawkers.
Veltroni's recent order to clear Piazza Navona, known by millions of tourists as the city's most picturesque square, provoked a chorus of protests.
Critics of the move - who included members of the Northern League party, once a harsh critic of everything Roman - said that the square's painters, caricature artists and street performers had become part of its magical charm.
But the mayor is unrepentant at having dumped them.
"Freed of the hawkers, Piazza Navona is more beautiful and pleasant to experience for everyone, both the Romans and the many people who come from all over the world to admire it," Veltroni said.
The piazza, which has Bernini's famous Four Rivers fountain at its centre, used to be especially crowded at night with painters and artists of varying talents offering to do on-the-spot portraits as souvenirs of Rome.
There were also dozens of Italians and immigrants selling cheap souvenirs, fake handbags and conjuring tricks while others offered to tell tourists' fortunes. Many felt the street vendors reflected Rome's typically festive, relaxed atmosphere. But Veltroni agreed with residents' complaints that too many people were crowding into the baroque piazza every night, turning a delightful spot into a chaotic ruck.
"I'm satisfied," Veltroni added. "We adopted the measure for Piazza Navona's dignity, aiming to safeguard the architectural and artistic quality and equilibrium of a unique place."
The mayor stressed that the council is working to find solutions to help artists evicted from the square, by letting them set up stands in other parts of Rome's historic centre.
Piazza Navona occupies the site of the ancient Roman Stadium of Domitian and contains Giacomo della Porta's Fontana del Moro and a much-loved Neptune fountain as well as Bernini's masterpiece.
