Visitors flock to Trevi Fountain restoration-in-progress

Over 250,000 visit fountain as it undergoes restoration

(ANSA) - Rome, August 6 - Tourists are flocking to visit the Trevi fountain as it undergoes a 2.12-million-euro restoration courtesy of Fendi fashion house, officials said Wednesday. Since the restoration began on June 30, some 250,000 visitors have strolled over a walkway above the central portion of the fountain, enabling tourists to get a better glimpse of ongoing work on the 18th-century Baroque masterpiece by Nicola Salvi immortalized by movie stars including Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita.

Visitors arrived at an average rate of 1,200 people an hour, officials said. Fendi is funding the restoration of the Trevi Fountain in an initiative similar to work on the Colosseum and the Spanish steps, funded respectively by Tod's entrepreneur Diego Della Valle and Bulgari jeweler.