As of: March 27, 2024, 5:30 p.m
By: Laura Hindelang
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Press
Split
Every day, visitors to Rome throw thousands of coins into the famous Trevi Fountain.
The question of what should happen to it once led to many conflicts.
Numerous tourists crowd in front of the iconic Trevi Fountain - especially in high season.
When they travel to Rome, they not only want to admire the baroque building, but also throw a few coins into it.
It is important to throw the money over your left shoulder with your right hand.
According to legend, this ensures that you will soon return to the Italian capital.
A second coin is said to make you fall in love with a local, and a third coin is said to make wedding bells ring.
More than a million euros end up in the Trevi Fountain every year
According to a report in Spiegel,
the German archaeologist Wolfgang Helbig, who spent 50 years of his life as a professor and art dealer in Rome, is said
to have invented the myth .
Every year around 1.4 million euros end up in the Trevi Fountain - that's an average of 4,000 euros that are thrown into the water every day in a wide variety of currencies.
A long dispute once broke out over who owned these sums.
The Trevi Fountain in Rome got its name because three streets lead to it.
© Pacific Press Agency/Imago
The coins used to be common property, reports the
Finanz.ne
t portal.
So everyone was allowed to take money from the well as they wished.
The city tried several times to stop this and brought charges against the citizens who enriched themselves from the coins.
Most of the cases ended in an acquittal.
There were still some exceptions.
Roberto Cercelletta, also known by the nickname “D'Artagnan,” was often caught standing in the fountain and stuffing his pockets with coins, reports
Travelbook
.
Once he is said to have pocketed 600 euros.
He is said to have never paid the fine of 500 euros imposed on him.
Money from the well used for charity
In 2001, Mayor Francesco Rutelli temporarily ended the conflict.
It is appropriate for such a “romantic gesture” to help people in need.
That's why, according to Spiegel
, he decreed
that the income from the well should go to Caritas.
It was then officially decided that the money would belong to the city of Rome the moment it ended up in the fountain basin - and it would then be passed on to the charity.
In 2017 there was another dispute over money.
Virginia Raggi, lawyer, politician of the Five Star Movement and mayor at the time, advocated that the city should keep the money and spend it on unspecified “social projects”.
Protest came not only from the residents of Rome and the opposition, but
also from the church, according to
Spiegel .
The bishops criticize that “the services of Caritas helpers would have to be reduced and some would have to be stopped altogether” if the municipality's decision were to come into force.
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The government backtracked two years later.
The money continues to benefit Caritas.
Every morning the water is pumped out of the well and the money is collected.
The coins are swept up, distributed into sacks and transported away.
As
Travelbook
explains, this is no longer done by Caritas helpers, but by the city's energy and environmental authority.
They should then count the money to ensure more “order and transparency”.
The police officers who guard the fountain around the clock should also help ensure more order - and less theft.