‘Ugly’ pool for coins built next to Rome’s Trevi Fountain as city undergoes massive facelift

Tourists eager to make a wish in Rome’s Trevi Fountain are being forced to toss coins over a plastic barrier into a small makeshift pool while the attraction is being drained for maintenance.

The rectangular box, unadorned and showing its plywood finish, has elicited mixed reactions. 

“I think it is a very sweet gesture that people can still do that," said Marianna Strekstadt, visiting from the Netherlands on Friday.

Others, like Daniela Carbone, found the substitute pool “ugly”. Yet, she gave her kids some coins to throw in anyway. “We have to please the children," she said.

City lore has it that tossing a coin into the Baroque fountain will ensure a return trip to Rome. This tradition generates an estimated €1.5 million annually, which has been donated to the Catholic charity Caritas for the past 15 years.

Why is there so much construction happening in Rome?

The maintenance work is part of a wider beautification project readying the Eternal City for next year’s Jubilee.

The holy event, presided over by the Roman Catholic Church, takes place every 25 years. From when it begins on Christmas Eve (24 December 2024) until it ends on the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January 2026), up to 35 million pilgrims are expected to descend on the city in search of forgiveness, renewal and celebration. 

As a result, visitors to Rome this year have been met with closed off roads and monuments surrounded by scaffolding and construction boards.

In July, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri told news agency Reuters that a record 3,200 public construction works were under way.

Billions of euros from state and EU funds have been ploughed into the city ahead of the Jubilee - not only to refresh its iconic historical sites but also to improve infrastructure like transport and waste management.

When the Vatican’s Jubilee Year kicks off, visitors will be able to use the city’s new AI-based virtual assistant, ‘Julia’. Available via WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, it aims to 

introduce visitors to lesser known attractions, thereby easing the strain on major monuments.

Rome wants to charge tourists to visit the Trevi Fountain

To manage the overwhelming number of tourists visiting the Trevi Fountain, Rome City officials are devising a plan to block off the area around it. 

Visitors will be required to book online and then pay a fee of €2 to get in. Once inside, they will have 30 minutes to enjoy the fountain.

Currently, access is limited to a fixed number of tourists while maintenance works are completed - a likely precursor to the fee being introduced in 2025.

Although the water has been drained, a glass and steel walkway being built across the monument will offer visitors a unique perspective of the fountain.

The reservation system is just one part of Rome’s plan to tackle tourist overcrowding. New regulations on short-term rentals and yet another hike in the city’s tourist tax last month also aim to ease overtourism.