La Fontana di Trevi or how to avoid being hit in the head by a flying euro.

Built between 1732 and 1762, the Trevi Fountain is the largest baroque fountain in Rome and one of the most famous in the world.

Like the Spanish steps, the Trevi has appeared in several films, including La Dolce Vita and Three Coins In A Fountain.

Which is a nice segue into the whole coin tossing phenomena.

There is a legend that says if you stand with your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your right shoulder with your left hand into the fountain, then you will return to Rome.  I'm sure this was started from the 1950's movie mentioned above, because I can't find any literature to say how long the tradition has been going for.

We didn't try it (there was a huge perspex wall around the fountain due to major restoration work going on at the time.  But we WILL return to Rome anyway - coin or no coin).

I would have loved to linger longer and look at the beautiful artwork, but it was rather dangerous with crowds of people, all with their backs to the perspex wall, flinging euros over their shoulder trying to aim over the wall.

I pitied the workmen in the fountain.

I apologise now for the poor quality of the photos.

 That's a little better.

I held the camera above the wall and took some pot luck shots.

And a coin missed me by that much!

I was telling my fountain story to a friend who went to Rome in December and she had the opposite experience.

The fountain was finished and open and the Spanish Steps were blocked off for restoration work.

Go figure.

The restoration work was completed in November 2015 and the fountain is back to it's beautiful working state.

Ready for my next visit.

Fontana de Trevi, Rome - July 2015