Bombay Durpun - Paying for a selfie: Rome starts charging for Trevi Fountain

People posed in the sunshine in front of the Baroque masterpiece after paying the two-euro ($1.68) fee to access the now largely crowd-free area next to the basin.

"Tell me it's not worth two euros! It's worth thousands if not millions, it's beautiful!" 41-year-old Polish tourist Agata Harezlak told AFP.

The backdrop to the most famous scene in Federico Fellini's film "La Dolce Vita", when actress Anita Ekberg takes a dip, is top of the list for many visitors exploring the Eternal City.

But in the past, crowds in the public square have been so dense that it has been hard to get a proper look.

Briton Phillip Willis, wearing shorts and T-shirt despite the cold, said he was pleased to get "a decent picture of myself without being bombarded by lots of other people".

It also felt good to spend money which would go to "preserving the fountain for many generations to come, hopefully", he said.

Most of the square is still open to the public and many people snapped pictures from there rather than paying for a closer look.

Ticket-holders can visit between 9:00 am and 10:00 pm, apart from Monday and Friday, when the area opens at 11:30 am.

City hall estimates the access ticket could bring in at least six million euros a year, Rome's council member for tourism Alessandro Onorato told journalists.

The earnings will go in part to pay for the 25 blue-vested stewards hired to staff the ticket office and usher people through the gated area at the top of the steps and down to the basin.

Funds raised would also permit free access for locals to a series of museums across the Italian capital, he said.

- 'Happy to pay' -

Francois Tricot, a 35-year-old from Belgium, said he was "happy to pay" to have room to snap the perfect picture of his partner, who was flashing a brand new engagement ring.

The couple laughed as they then tossed coins into the water, which traditionally ensures their return one day to Rome.

Making a wish and tossing a coin into the 18th-century fountain is so popular that authorities collect thousands of euros a week to donate to the Caritas charity.

Italian Mattia Loconte, 12, who uses a wheelchair, said he hoped some of the funds would go to installing ramps.

Disabled people can access the basin for free -- if they can get down the steps.

Unlike the others on his class trip, Loconte said "I can't get... close up, or do the famous coin ritual".

Nearby, a group of giggling tourists who had not paid for a ticket took advantage of a steward looking the other way to throw their coins from a distance, cheering as they went in.

Not all were convinced by the fee.

Albanian tourist David Lyucia said it was "ok for tourists", but "it's not right for Italians to have to pay", while Argentine Vittoria Calabria said "it should be free" for all.

The Pantheon -- a church and former Roman temple -- began charging visitors in 2023, and Venice last year introduced a tourist entry fee during peak periods.

K.Williams--BD