Tourists will have to pay a €2 entrance fee to get close to Rome’s Trevi Fountain, which draws crowds daily, Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said yesterday.
The monument, located in a public square, will still be able to be viewed from a distance for free, but closer access will be only for ticket holders, Gualtieri told a press conference.
“From February 1 we are introducing a paid ticket for six sites” in the Italian capital, including the Trevi Fountain, he said.
Entrance to the other five sites will cost €5.
The backdrop to the most famous scene in Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita, when actress Anita Ekberg takes a dip, the 18th-century fountain is top of the list for many visitors exploring the Eternal City.
Making a wish and tossing a coin into the water is such a tradition that authorities collect thousands of euros a week that are then given to the Caritas charity.
As a result of the fountain’s fame, the crowds in the square surrounding the Baroque masterpiece are often so deep that it is hard to get a proper look.
Between January 1 and December 8 some 9mn tourists have visited the area just in front of the fountain – an average of 30,000 people a day, Gualtieri said.
Rome residents will be allowed free access.
City hall estimates the ticket for access to the Trevi Fountain could bring in €6.5mn euros a year, he said.