Rome council is considering extreme measures to protect the Trevi Fountain. Photo / Jeon Hyungman
Rome council is considering extreme measures to protect the Trevi Fountain. Photo / Jeon Hyungman
The Trevi Fountain is one of the must-see attractions in Rome, and among the most famous fountains in the world.
But badly behaved tourists may be responsible for triggering a heavy-handed response to protecting the iconic structure that may ruin the experience for everyone.
CNN reports Rome's city council isconsidering installing a protective barrier around the Trevi Fountain to stop people from getting too close.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the wishing fountain in Rome each year. Photo / Jeff Ackley
It follows a particularly bad year for tourist behaviour at the Baroque masterpiece, where just last month three drunk Aussies were busted pouring their drinks in the water, Italy's Il Messaggero reported.
Tourists have also landed in trouble for splashing around in Trevi Fountain in the style of Anita Ekberg's iconic scene in the 1960 Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita.
The fountain, which began to be built in 257, is one of the most popular spots in the Italian capital and is frequently surrounded by tourists, with many observing the tradition of tossing three coins over their shoulders into the water.
Andrea Coia, the president of the council's business committee, has put to the full council his proposal for "protective" barriers that would "prohibit people sitting on the edge of the fountain".
"I put forward the motion because the symbolic places of our city need more control and attention," Coia told CNN Travel.
Dolce Vita: The film that both immortalised and ruined Trevi Fountain? Photo / Supplied
He said the barriers would "safeguard one of the world's most beautiful places and assure a better experience for those who want to enjoy it."
In his proposal, Coia pointed out the measures would free up the city's police who are already instructed to ban tourists from sitting on "symbolic monuments".
Rome council is considering extreme measures to protect the Trevi Fountain. Photo / Jeon Hyungman
He also suggested fixed police checkpoints in areas near the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. The federal Ministry of Cultural Heritage would need to agree to the proposal for it to go ahead, CNN reported.
It wouldn't be the first time the Eternal City has gotten tough on tourists.
In June, Rome revealed strict new quality-of-life rules, which included "severe fines" for people caught taking a dip in the city's fountains, bans on wheeled suitcases being pulled down historic staircases, walking around bare-chested, "nuisance drunks", singing on public transportation — even putting your mouth on the nozzles of drinking fountains.
"Old regulations have been updated to adapt to the needs of a modern society," security official Marco Cardilli told the Guardian.
