Whether you have already visited Rome or not, you must know about the “Fontana di Trevi”. Yes, that incredibly high and beautiful fountain in which Audrey Hepburn dipped her toes, filming one of the most iconic cinematographic scenes ever.
Something so beautiful, of course, took a long time to be built. In 1730, the Pope organised a competition to decide who was going to be the “chosen one” for this important task. Those were times where the pride of a city depended solely on art, and it was an immense honor to be elected to participate in such a project.
Initially, an architect called Galilei won the contest, but he was from Florence, and the people of Rome did not like that. In the end, Nicola Salvi was the happy Roman winner, and constructions started in 1732. However, Nicola Salvi died with only half of the work done, and another architect had to be hired. Four sculptors were also recruited to give final touches, such as the magnificent Oceanus statue on the top middle of the fountain. In 1762, the masterpiece was finally finished.
Romans are very proud of this truly impressive fountain, and if I were them, I would be too… I mean, it makes an average of €3000 per day, not joking! All those little coins that you throw in its waters while making a wish added up to €1.4 million in 2016. This money is used to subsidise a supermarket for Rome’s needy. Doesn’t this prove we could change the world by making a small effort together?
Anyhow, if you want your world to be changed forever, you should definitely plan a romantic city trip to Rome. If you can’t right now, for obvious reasons, some old movies such as “Roman Holiday” and “La Dolce Vita” are all-time classics that you should add to your quarantine pass times.