Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens after three-month clean-up, but with a 400-visitor limit

Rome's famous Trevi Fountain reopened Sunday following a three-month clean-up, but visitors will for now be limited to 400 to avoid the crowds of the past, said the city's mayor.

Rome's iconic Trevi Fountain reopened to the public on Sunday following a three-month clean-up, but visitors will initially be capped at 400 to avoid the huge crowds of the past, the city's mayor said.

Announcing the limit, which could be adjusted later, Roberto Gualtieri told reporters at the landmark that it would "allow everyone to better enjoy the fountain, without crowds or confusion."

Gualtieri also said that city authorities were considering charging a small entry fee to help pay for the upkeep of the fountain, among other things.

The clean-up of the fountain and other key city sites is aimed at "returning 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's jubilee begins on December 24.

A baroque masterpiece, the Trevi Fountain is one of the most visited sites in Rome and has featured in numerous films set in the city, including a classic scene in Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita," where Anita Ekberg invites Marcello Mastroianni to join her in the fountain's basin.

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

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

Making a wish and throwing a coin into the water has become such a tradition that the city authorities used to collect around 10,000 euros ($10,500) a week, which was donated 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 33 million people expected to visit in 2025 for the Jubilee.

The event, declared by Pope Francis, is a year of pilgrimage and prayer, marked by religious and cultural events held throughout the Vatican and Rome. It usually takes place about every 25 years.