Rome’s Trevi Fountain gets temporary catwalk as famous landmark undergoes a cleaning

A suspended walkway providing tourists an up-close view of Rome’s Trevi Fountain was unveiled Saturday, a temporary addition while the famous “La Dolce Vita” site undergoes a cleaning.

The Baroque masterpiece constructed on the facade of a palace is one of the most popular sites in Rome for tourists, who strain over the crowds to throw their coins into its water.

While the fountain is being cleaned to remove limestone deposits and grime, however, the walkway positioned over its basin will accommodate some 130 people at a time to take a closer look.

That will give tourists “an experience not ruined by excessive crowding,” said Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri.

“We wanted to give everybody the opportunity to admire the fountain and to do this from a unique perspective because what you can see from the walkway, you will never be able to see normally,” he said.

The work on the fountain, which includes cleaning stones in the lower part of the monument and grouting joints, should be completed by the end of the year, officials said.

French tourist Franck Petretto, 50, was one of the first to walk across the passageway, calling the view “wonderful and very, very beautiful.”

“Even without the water flowing inside the fountain, you can really see that the architecture is serious… and that’s really very pleasing,” he said.

Micaela di Caterina, a 32-year-old visiting from Argentina, agreed, saying the up-close look at the intricate sculptures of Oceanus, father of the river gods, and his sea horses was “incredible”.

Still, she acknowledged, it was “kind of weird” to be walking over the fountain.

Earlier this month, a plastic barrier and a small makeshift pool were erected in front of the famous attraction, eliciting mixed reactions from tourists. One tourist told the Associated Press that the substitute pool was “ugly.” Yet, she gave her kids some coins to throw in anyway.

City lore has it that tossing a coin into the fountain will ensure a return trip to Rome. This tradition generates an estimated $1.6 million annually, which has been donated to the Catholic charity Caritas for the past 15 years.

To manage the overwhelming number of tourists who visit the famous landmark each year, city officials are devising a plan to block off the area around the fountain. Visitors will be required to book online and then pay a fee of 2 euros to get inside.