Tourists to be banned from stopping
at Trevi fountain
By John Phillips, rome
12 MAY 2017 • 6:10PM
Tourists are to be banned from stopping at Rome's Trevi
fountain after a spate of illegal swimming inspired by a scene from 1960 film
‘La Dolce Vita’.
Under a plan unveiled by Mayor Virginia Raggi, tourists will
only be able to visit the 18th century Baroque masterpiece by passing along a
one-way route on one side of the fountain, while volunteer attendants will
protect the rest of the area from 9 am until midnight.
Officials at the mayor’s Campidoglio palace said the new
arrangement will be introduced as soon as May 29. “It will be in experimental
form first, so that we can judge the effectiveness of the new solution,” one
said.
Abuse of the fountain has escalated since last July when a
64-year- old British woman, Delilah Jay, took a daring dip in the Trevi to
recreate the scene from the Fellini film in which Anita Ekberg and Marcello
Mastroianni swam in its basin. Ms Jay blew kisses to the crowd watching her as
she walked through the water. She was later fined €450.
Officials fear that illegal bathing will increase with the
arrival of hot summer weather.
Under the plan tourists no longer will be able to sit on the
walls of the basin.
The main task of the volunteers at the Trevi, who are to be
recruited among retired police officers, will be to channel the thousands of
tourists who visit the fountain through the permitted walk-past route. Tourists
will still be able to stop briefly to snap a selfie or throw coins over their
shoulders into the bubbling water, a gesture that according to tradition means
a visitor will return to Rome.
Last month Ms Raggi’s office announced several new measures
to protect the city’s main 30 fountains. It was forbidden to sit on them, wash
feet, have water fights and allow pets to drink from them with fines ranging
from €180 to €450, depending on the importance of the fountain.
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