Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens after three-month clean-up, but visitor numbers capped

Rome's iconic Trevi Fountain reopened Sunday following a three-month clean-up, but visitors will initially be limited to 400 at a time to avoid the pre-pandemic crowds, the city's mayor said.

The limit, which could later be adjusted, will "allow everyone to better enjoy the fountain, without crowds or confusion", Roberto Gualtieri told journalists gathered in front of the famous landmark.

Gualtieri also said the city authorities were considering charging a modest entry price to help pay for, among other things, the fountain's upkeep.

The clean-up of the fountain and other key city sites aims to "return most of the monuments to the city in time for the start of the Jubilee", Claudio Parisi Presicce, Rome's superintendent for cultural heritage sites, told AFP-TV.

The Catholic Church jubilee will begin on December 24.

The Trevi fountain, a baroque masterpiece, is one of the most visited sites in Rome.

It has featured in numerous films set in the city, including a classic scene in Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", when Anita Ekberg invites Marcello Mastroianni to join her in the fountain's basin.

Sunday's reopening took place in light rain and in the presence of several hundred tourists, many of whom followed the mayor's lead by throwing a coin into the fountain.

Before the pandemic, an average of 10,000 to 12,000 tourists visited the Trevi Fountain each day.

Tossing a coin into the water while making a wish is such a deeply ingrained tradition that the city authorities used to collect around 10,000 euros ($10,500) a week from the fountain.

The money was given to the Caritas charity to provide meals for the poor.

The three-month cleaning project involved removing mould and calcium incrustations.

The Trevi fountain is just one of the sites being cleaned up across the Italian capital as it prepares for the arrival of the 33 million people expected in 2025 for the Jubilee.

The event, declared by Pope Francis, will be a year of pilgrimage and prayer, marked by religious and cultural events held across the Vatican and Rome.

It takes place roughly every 25 years.