Mary and I visited the Trevi Fountain today, only to find it drained and walled off with a glass partition. The cleaning and refurbishment are part of the city’s preparation for a grand festival or Jubilee next year.
Despite the crowds, the Trevi was strangely silent, its majestic sculptures dry and its fountains still. Yet, that didn’t stop us or others from performing a timeless ritual here. You’re supposed to turn around, toss a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder, and watch it hit the water to ensure a future return to Rome.
There was no water today, but like everyone else, we flung our coins into the dry basin, a symbolic gesture that transcended the missing element.
As we stood there, I couldn’t help but think of Three Coins in the Fountain, the ballad once sung by lovers wishing for their dreams of romance to come true. Standing next to us today, a couple who had been married for just three days tossed their coins with a smile. They said, they were sure their marriage wishes would come true, with or without the water.
Plans are in place to build a viewing platform, limiting access to the fountain’s edge, where countless hands have hovered over the waters for centuries. An admission fee is being considered too. The thought of visitors paying to stand at a distance from Trevi’s beauty is disheartening. It seems some of the fountain’s magic will be lost when the connection between the people and the tumbling water is diminished.
The Trevi Fountain’s origins reach back to ancient Rome, marking the terminus of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct. Over the centuries, it evolved into a symbol of the dreams and hopes riding on each coin – wishes for adventure, romance, happiness, and lives well lived.
Perhaps, in a way, we were lucky to experience the Trevi mostly as it has been before these changes take effect. The coins lay there in the dry bed, waiting for the water to return, just as future visitors may have to wait for their chance to get closer. Whether the changes will preserve the fountain or alter its spirit remains to be seen.