Coins thrown into Rome’s Trevi Fountain added up and gifted to charity
When heading to Rome, in Italy, one of the main tourist attractions is the awe-inspiring Trevi Fountain.
The 18th Century carving and water feature sits in the Piazza di Trevi attracting thousands of holidaymakers every day to admire the stone horses and historical figures.
While visiting the piazza you might feel crammed in during the summertime as people crowd around for a look.
READ MORE: Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal to charge UK tourists to visit – but it's delayed
Many tourists also choose to throw loose change into the fountain too.
The correct way to do this is to throw the cash with your right hand over your left shoulder so that it lands into the water.
If you manage to do so it is said that the action will bring you lots of good luck – and ensure that you will return to Rome one day in the future…
An incredible 3000€ (£2628) of change is launched into the water every single day, claims Euronews.
Plus, it is thought that one million euros (£876,000) or more lands in the fountain each year – in 2016 1.4million euros (£1.2m) was collected from the water.
It's illegal to attempt to steal the money from the water.
But, what happens to the hundreds of thousands of coins launched into the Trevi Fountain every year?
Well, the city sends people to collect the coins from the water multiple times each year, scraping the bottom of the monument with long poles to collect all the change.
It's then sucked out of the water with a hose, counted and bagged under the watchful eyes of the local police.
After that the money is sent to its final home – Rome's Catholic charity Caritas.
It was decided the money from the fountain would be given to the needy in 2001 by the then mayor in an attempt to stop people from stealing it so much.
The cash now makes up 15% of Caritas' budget which is spent around the city funding help for those in need.
Caritas helps to run soup kitchens, homeless shelters, free supermarkets for the poor and more.
So, when you throw cash in the fountain it's not just you getting a bit of good fortune…
The Trevi Fountain isn't the only incredible sight to see in Rome – the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Roman Forum are all well worth going to see.
Plus, nestled within the Capital is Vatican City where you can gaze at the Sistine Chapel.
Plus, Italy's food scene is almost unbeatable with the most notable Roman dishes being carbonara, amatriciana and cacio e pepe.
READ NEXT:
Best value European ski resorts for Brits wanting a cheap winter holiday in 2023
Rome 'best city in Europe' for winter Christmas break with light displays and markets
You can hire an entire Italian village with its own castle from just £6.50pp per night
Source: Read Full Article
