With temperatures hitting 32 degrees in the Eternal city Rome, three young woman tourists decided to escape the over-bearing heat by cooling off in Fontana dell’Acqua Paola – one of the city’s historic fountains.
As these three women stripped down to their bikinis and swimsuits and happily frolicked in the fountain, a shocked onlooker took the young women’s photo and shared it on Twitter.
“It’s very hot, but the fountain of Gianicolo (the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola] can’t become a swimming pool for tourists. Rome deserves more respect.” (Translated from the tweet)
The city’s residents who are fiercely protective of their architecture, most notably the extensive network of baroque fountains, have reacted angrily to the incident and slammed these women calling them ‘rude’. The Italian media slammed the tourists as disrespectful and one outraged tweeter claimed only English or German tourists would have been audacious enough to pull the stunt.
After the picture went viral, angry users tweeted their anger and disappointment over the incident
Though these tourists have not been identified yet, they could face fines of up to €200 fine if caught.
It’s not the first time such a thing has happened. Last September, a group of British architects were fined for stripping and jumping into one of the city’s other fountains.