Throwing a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain to make sure you will return to Rome is the tourist ritual par excellence. Tradition says that if you throw one coin you will return to the Eternal City, if you throw two you will find love with an Italian, and if you throw three, you will marry. But have you ever stopped to think how much money this gesture adds up to when multiplied by millions of people every day? 🏛️✈️
The figures for the world's most famous and most profitable fountain are dizzying and hide fascinating logistics:
Daily takings: On average, around €3,500 is collected every day in coins from currencies all over the world.
Annual total: The total easily exceeds €1.5 million a year, making this Baroque monument one of Italy's main sources of charitable income.
Where does the money go? The collection process is almost a spectacle. Several times a week, early in the morning, access is temporarily closed and a team of workers from Rome's energy and environmental company (ACEA), equipped with large vacuums, collects and sorts the coins under strict police supervision to prevent theft. All of this money is donated in full to Caritas, which uses it for soup kitchens, shelters, supermarket cards for people with limited resources and families at risk of exclusion.
🎫 The big news for 2026: The new paid access system
As if the constant rain of coins were not enough, the way the fountain operates has undergone a historic change. Since February this year, a fee of €2 has been introduced to access the walkway and the lower area (the one closest to the water). The aim is twofold: to control the mass tourism that was choking the square and to raise funds for the city.
The economic success was immediate: in its first month of operation alone, this new payment system raised almost €450,000 extra. Unlike the coins collected for Caritas, this new income from tickets goes directly towards the upkeep and restoration of Rome's heritage and towards funding the city's civic museums.
The Trevi Fountain is not only a masterpiece of Nicola Salvi's architecture, but a genuine economic and social engine, fuelled day after day by the wishes and dreams of travellers from all over the world! 🌟