Italy: €400 fine for dipping feet in fountain in Rome

Rome: Rome police fined a 35-year-old Italian woman €400 for dipping her feet in the basin of the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola, better known as the Fontanone, on the Janiculum Hill.

The incident took place at around 22.00 on Saturday 29 August, with the woman allegedly blaming the heat before being handed the hefty fine, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The Fontanone, whose name means literally “big fountain,” is located on the summit of the Janiculum hill. The monumental fountain was built in 1612 to mark the end of the Acqua Paola aqueduct, restored by Pope Paul V, taking its name from him.

In more recent times the fountain featured prominently in the introduction to Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-winning film La Grande Bellezza.