The tradition that brings Rome €1.5 million a year: Where the Trevi Fountain money really goes

Every day, thousands of visitors turn their backs to Rome’s Trevi Fountain and throw a coin over their left shoulder, following a ritual said to guarantee a return to the Eternal City. The small wishes become part of a remarkable charitable operation, generating about €1.5 million a year.

The fountain is emptied and cleaned several times a week, usually in the early morning before tourists fill the square. Municipal workers pump out the water, cordon off the area and use special vacuums and large brooms to gather tons of coins from the marble basin. Police monitor the operation, after which the money is packed into sealed bags and taken to a secure location. Around €3,000 to €4,000 is collected on an average day.

Since 2001, all the money has officially gone to Caritas Rome. Volunteers and staff dry, clean and sort the coins, separating currencies ranging from US dollars to Japanese yen before exchanging them for euros. The proceeds support soup kitchens, homeless shelters, free medical services and social supermarkets known as “Emporiums of Solidarity.” Families with low incomes can use points on a card to obtain basic food items free of charge.

The arrangement faced a challenge in 2019, when Rome’s then-mayor, Virginia Raggi, proposed redirecting the fountain’s money to the city budget. The plan would have financed repairs to aging infrastructure and the maintenance of monuments, but it met strong and nearly unanimous opposition from the public and media. The source describes the established system as a tourist custom transformed into direct aid for the city’s most vulnerable residents.