Trevi Fountain with limited access for Jubilee (4)

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 7 - Access to the Trevi Fountain will be limited during the Roman Catholic Jubilee Holy Year of 2025 in a pilot scheme that may lead to the introduction of a fee to see the iconic Roman landmark, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said Monday.
    The centre-left official also announced the start Monday of extraordinary maintenance of the Fountain.
    It will be surrounded by transparent panels but within a month a 'horseshoe' walkway will be installed inside the basin where visitors will be able to walk while enjoying an unprecedented view.
    The walkway will have limited access, and will therefore be a dress rehearsal and experimentation of limited access to the basin that will be introduced at the end of the work, in time for the Jubilee.
    In a later phase, the introduction of a "small contribution" for entry will also be evaluated, Gulatieri said. The announcement was made by Gualtieri together with the councilors for Culture and Tourism Miguel Gotor and Alessandro Onorato and the heritage superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce.
    Tourists can still make their iconic coin toss into a 'basket' from the walkway, expressing the wish to return to the Eternal City, Gualtieri said.
    The possible entry ticket, Gualtieri and Onorato explained, could be introduced as early as 2025, after three or four months.
    The entrance to the lower part of the Fountain will not be by reservation or by time slots, but Zètema hostesses and stewards will let visitors in up to the maximum capacity limit - there are already gates with columns - and will wait for them to exit to gradually let new ones in.
    The Fountain will still be visible from the square. Gualtieri ruled out installing turnstiles.
    Asked if there would be an anti-loitering measure at the fountain, similar to those in force at other historic squares and landmarks in Rome, Venice and Florence, Gualtieri replied: "The Fountain has seats, in fact the purpose of this restriction is precisely to allow the enjoyment of the monument even by sitting down.
    "Obviously it is not the most suitable place to eat, there will be limitations.
    "One does not sit down to eat inside the museum in front of the Mona Lisa." He stressed: "The extraordinary maintenance work on the Trevi Fountain will allow the monument to be enjoyed.
    "In a month, a walkway will be installed that will allow you to see it from a perspective never seen before.
    "The Fountain will be emptied but you will still be able to throw a coin into a basket." (ANSA).