By mid-morning, the area around the Trevi fountain is already difficult to cross. Visitors stop suddenly to take photographs while tour groups gather behind raised umbrellas, and security staff redirect the flow of people through temporary barriers placed around the monument. Nearby, souvenir kiosks sell rosaries, plastic gladiator helmets, bottled water and magnets in the summer heat.
Tourists pose for photographs in front of the Trevi fountain
Top left: visitors gather in front of the Trevi fountain. Top right: the fountain during restoration works. Above: a tourist takes a selfie at the fountain while eating an ice-cream
Rome has always depended on the people passing through it. Pilgrims, tourists and travellers have crossed the city for centuries, following routes that were familiar long before they arrived. What feels different today is the scale of that movement, and the way the historic centre has gradually reorganised itself around it.
Crowds gather in St Peter’s Square during the Jubilee year in Rome
