Restoration began Thursday on the world-famous Trevi Fountain in Rome.
Work on the 18th-century Baroque masterpiece will continue for about a year and a half.
Water shot from the fountain to the "Oohs" of watching tourists Thursday morning after a routine cleaning and collection of coins - but behind metal fencing, as restoration will be conducted in public view. A walkway above the central portion of the fountain will allow visitors to catch a better glimpse of ongoing work.
Water will be drained during the process, but tourists will still be able to cast their coins for luck in the fountain immortalized by numerous movie stars, including a frolicking Anita Eckberg and Marcello Mastroianni in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Fendi is financing restoration of the Trevi Fountain in an initiative similar to work on the Colosseum and the Spanish steps, financed by Tod's entrepreneur Diego Della Valle's and the jeweler Bulgari, respectively.
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