Wayback Wednesday: October 24, 2018 ~ Rome, Italy (Trevi Fountain)

On a bright, sunny day in Rome I was wandering around the central part of the city and came to Trevi Fountain, one of the most famous fountains in the world. The fountain is located at a junction where three old roads came together and a Roman aqueduct ended. For hundreds of years the previous fountain here supplied water to the city. In 1629 plans were made for a new fountain but they were scrapped when the pope who commissioned the projected died and it would be a little over 100 years before new designs were created and construction on Trevi Fountain began. In 1762 Trevi Fountain was officially finished. Since then the fountain has required restoration work several times but thankfully when I was in Rome in 2012 there wasn’t any work being done on it.

Trevi Fountain is a very popular spot in Rome and normally is crowded for most of the day. Pickpockets sometimes roam the crowds so keep your belongings secure while enjoying the fountain. To get a seat down at the fountain’s edge you may have to wait awhile for someone else to vacate their spot. If you are able to nab a seat there’s a custom of throwing a coin over your shoulder to ensure that you will one day return to Rome. Coins thrown into the fountain are collected every night and the money goes to a local charity that helps the city’s poorer residents pay for food.

I don’t remember if I threw a coin over my shoulder when I was at Trevi Fountain in 2012 but I’m going to assume that I did, seeing as how I’ll be back in Rome next month. What I do remember, however, was how I channeled the spirit of Team America and deprived another photographer of potential business. You can read this story in an old post of mine title Cruel Altruism.