The coins "take us back to Rome" also rain down on the Forum, as has been the case for some time at the Trevi Fountain. On the Capitol, from the terrace that opens next to the Tabularium, it has become a habit for tourists to turn their backs, close their eyes, and throw a coin towards the archaeological area in the hope that the gesture and the sacrificed mite will be a good omen to return one day to the eternal city.
Video At the Forum as at the Trevi Fountain, the toss of the coin to return to Rome
This evocative backdrop on the Roman Forumis at the corner of Via Monte Tarpeo and Via del Campidoglio, almost at the top of the hill that is the seat of the Capitoline government. The panorama that opens up from here is breathtaking, with the temple of Vespasian and Titus that seems to touch us. The place is accessible to all and is a must-see for those visiting the city. And just leaning out of the balcony and looking downwards, it then jumps out at the eye that the metal plate part facing the sky of the Portico degli Dei Consenti has now become a sort of dynamic pop mosaic cadenced as it is in length of thousands of cents but also of coins of one or two euros and of various other nationalities. From what has been explained, in fact, the same thin slab, installed with the latest restoration to protect the Portico, having a raised border on the sides intended to prevent rainwater from sliding on the marbles, ensures that many coins remain in plain sight without ending up like all the others on the pavement.
The coin toss at the Forum as well as at the Trevi Fountain
According to some sources, the tradition of throwing coins at the Trevi Fountain dates back to the nineteenth century. This gesture, which then became a tradition, was started by the German archaeologist, Wolfgang Helbig, who left the city and decided to throw an old coin into the basin of the Trevi Fountain as a good omen for his return soon. Meanwhile, on 8 December, the Capitoline Council approved the renewal, for three years, of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Vicariate of Rome for the use of the coins collected for the implementation of charitable, welfare and socially useful activities.
The toss of coins at the Forum as well as at the Trevi Fountain (photo Massimo Percossi/ANSA)
Another story concerning Rome and its monuments dates back to 2006 when it became fashionable to attach a padlock to the so-called love pole, on Ponte Milvio. An urban legend had it that if you went there, closed the padlock and threw the key into the Tiber, the lover would be with your loved one forever. A legend mentioned in a book that was then a cult of the very young, 'I want you'. In Rome, fashion came from Florence, where the statue of Benvenuto Cellini on Ponte Vecchio had already been cleaned several times from hundreds of chains and padlocks hooked by young lovers who then threw the key into the Arno.
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