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Tourists Toss Coins over a Makeshift Pool as Rome’s Trevi Fountain Undergoes Maintenance

A small pool is seen in front of the Trevi Fountain to allow tourists to throw their coins in it, as the fountain has been emptied to undergo maintenance work that will last until around September 2025, in Rome, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP)
A small pool is seen in front of the Trevi Fountain to allow tourists to throw their coins in it, as the fountain has been emptied to undergo maintenance work that will last until around September 2025, in Rome, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP)
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Tourists Toss Coins over a Makeshift Pool as Rome’s Trevi Fountain Undergoes Maintenance

A small pool is seen in front of the Trevi Fountain to allow tourists to throw their coins in it, as the fountain has been emptied to undergo maintenance work that will last until around September 2025, in Rome, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP)
A small pool is seen in front of the Trevi Fountain to allow tourists to throw their coins in it, as the fountain has been emptied to undergo maintenance work that will last until around September 2025, in Rome, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP)

Tourists eager to return to the Eternal City are being forced to toss coins over a plastic barrier and into a small makeshift pool in front of Rome’s Trevi Fountain while the attraction is being drained for maintenance.

The rectangular box, unadorned and showing its plywood finish, has elicited mixed reactions. “I think it is a very sweet gesture that people can still do that," said Marianna Strekstadt, visiting from the Netherlands on Friday. A cashless traveler, she was taking a pass.

Others, like Daniela Carbone, found the substitute pool “ugly.” Yet, she gave her kids some coins to throw in anyway. “We have to please the children,” she said.

City lore has it that tossing a coin into the Baroque fountain will ensure a return trip to Rome. This tradition generates an estimated 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) annually, which has been donated to the Catholic charity Caritas for the past 15 years.

To manage the overwhelming number of tourists visiting the fountain, Rome City officials are devising a plan to block off the area around the fountain. Visitors will be required to book online and then pay a fee of 2 euros ($2.20) to get in. Once inside, they will have 30 minutes to enjoy the fountain.

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UN Rights Office Warns of Israel’s Threat to Baalbek, Other Archaeological Sites in Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area on the outskirts of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley on October 31, 2024. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area on the outskirts of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley on October 31, 2024. (AFP)
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UN Rights Office Warns of Israel’s Threat to Baalbek, Other Archaeological Sites in Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area on the outskirts of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley on October 31, 2024. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area on the outskirts of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley on October 31, 2024. (AFP)

The UN Human Rights Office on Friday expressed alarm over “the continuing grave impact” of Israeli military operations on civilians and civilian targets in Lebanon, including the destruction of places of worship and risks posed to invaluable archaeological sites.

The office said that since Israel’s air force ordered the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek evacuated, airstrike that followed have “come perilously close” to the ancient Roman-era temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Destruction of cultural heritage “depletes the historical and cultural identity of the communities it represents,” it said.

The sites destroyed or severely damaged so far include mosques in the southern villages of Yaroun, Maroun el-Ras, Blida, and Kfar Tibnit, OHCHR said, adding that a Melkite Greek Catholic church in the port city of Tyre was also damaged in early October.

Civilian objects, buildings dedicated to religion and other sites of cultural significance are protected from attack under international humanitarian law unless they become military objectives, the office said.

It stressed that should the sites lose their protection, any attacks upon them must still comply with the principles of proportionality and precaution, and that all parties to the conflict should take special care to avoid damage to buildings dedicated to religion or other sites of cultural or historical significance.