In the famous Trevi Fountain, the famous fountain at its heart of Romehttps://www.skai.gr/tags/romitourists throw coins with their backs turned. It is a good additional income for the city municipality. Rumor has it that anyone who does so will at some point return here, to the heart of the “eternal city”. Some don’t necessarily seem to have it on the schedule, since they took the coveted selfie that proves they were here too.

Rome, like many other historical cities in Italy and Europe, has been suffering for some years from over-tourism. And from the “selfie maniacs”, who are not interested in really getting to know the city and its history, as the tour guide Maxim Chernis suggests a little irritated: “It’s cool to take a selfie next to the fountain. Great place, great for Instagram, but there’s not just this Rome. The full square, the full streets”. But who has the time to discover the “other Rome”, when the photographic obligations are very specific and pressing? It is also the Colosseum that awaits…

Only what you uploaded is there

It’s a race to upload photos in time to be seen. Even if what you want to show exists only in your mind. Because how can you feel the picturesqueness and the aroma of the city surrounded by thousands of others, who are taking the same selfie route as you? Thus, by invading the tourists are simply destroying what they are supposed to have come to capture.

The case of Trastevere, the old popular neighborhood with its narrow cobbled streets in the center of the city, is typical. Its traditional character was lost between bars and Airbnb. The neighborhood remains of course popular, but in no case is it what those romantics who still combine travel with sightseeing may have dreamed of.

Alessandro Fulcinelli is a bar owner and one of the old residents of the neighborhood, which no longer exists: “In the 90s, Trastevere became very popular for singles, artists, young people. Now it has changed a lot. Many rooms for rent. It became very touristy.”

The steps of… standing

Another much-photographed point of one of the most photographed cities in Europe, where inseparability prevails, are the famous Spanish Steps, which connect the Piazza di Spagna with the French church Trinita dei Monti, from where the view of the city is truly infinitely magnificent. It has always been one of the most favorite spots for tourists, but in the era of selfies, evil has been created.

The municipal police now forbid the hundreds of tourists who arrive there during the day from sitting on the steps and rummaging. Something that visitors understand anyway. “I think it’s right with such a crowd. You couldn’t walk up the stairs with so many people sitting everywhere. They did well” say two visitors from abroad. The Romans themselves probably avoided passing through this particular spot. At the moment, they seem cooler than the residents of other European cities, who are outraged by this modern phenomenon.

Tourists, especially younger ones, don’t seem bothered. And they prefer to come at night, looking for the moment when they can fit themselves into a photo that will hide everyone else around them. “It’s very impressive. It is truly monumental. It’s a nice picture in the daytime, but now with the lights it’s even more beautiful. But look at her…” says the tourist excitedly, to then search the map on his mobile phone for the next hot spot for the next selfie.