Italy: Mexican women fined for night-time dip in Rome monument

Rome, 29 Nov. (AKI) - Municipal police in Rome fined two Mexican women tourists 160 euros each after they took a prohibited overnight dip in Rome's famous 17th-century Trevi fountain at the weekend. It was the latest apparent bid to recreate the iconic scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita when Anita Ekberg and Marcello Matroianni frollicked in the fountain at night.

One of the young women took of her shoes, and other, her boots, and both waded in to the cold water of fountain, one wearing a skimpy black dress, and the other, a short skirt. A crowd of their friends reportedly cheered them on and took pictures.

The stunt came to an end when police ordered the women out of the fountain. They appeared not to speak Italian and only managed to say: "Felllini!".

Police said the women both paid their fines on the spot - apparently a rare occurrence. The Fellini-style dip reportedly caused no damage to the fountain.

Earlier in November, a homeless Romanian, dubbed 'Attila the Hun' was also fined 160 euros by police after he staged a spectacular diving display in the historic fountain.

The Trevi fountain is Rome's most popular for dips, followed by Piazza Navona's Four Rivers fountain designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the museum housing the ancient Ara Pacis monument, according to data cited by Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper.

The Trevi fountain was designed by architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762. Pope Urban VIII originally commissioned Bernini to create the celebrated work.

Salvi used many of Bernini's touches in the fountain's design.