Rome's historic centre reorganised around mass tourism, photo essay reveals
A photo essay by Lorenzo Grifantini documents how Rome's historic centre has been reshaped by mass tourism, with barriers, temporary routes, portable toilets, and constant crowds becoming the new normal. The essay captures scenes at the Trevi Fountain, St Peter's Square, Piazza Navona, and the Colosseum, showing visitors photographing monuments through phones, queueing for tickets and toilets, and resting beside fountains. During the Jubilee year, the city feels structured entirely around visitor management. Grifantini notes that the experience of Rome is increasingly organised around movement, visibility, and reproduction of familiar images. The essay appears in The Guardian.
Key facts
- Photo essay by Lorenzo Grifantini published in The Guardian.
- Documents the reshaping of Rome's historic centre by mass tourism.
- Shows temporary barriers, portable toilets, and guided routes at landmarks.
- Captures scenes at Trevi Fountain, St Peter's Square, Piazza Navona, Colosseum.
- Highlights visitors photographing monuments through phones before looking directly.
- Notes that during the Jubilee year, the city is structured around visitor management.
- Observations include queues, exhaustion, and collapse of sacred space with tourism infrastructure.
- Rome is described as a prototype for historic cities reorganised around visitor expectations.
Entities
Artists
- Lorenzo Grifantini
- Michelangelo
Institutions
- The Guardian
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Trevi Fountain
- St Peter's Square
- Piazza Navona
- Piazza di Spagna
- Colosseum
- Castel Sant'Angelo
- Pantheon
- Vatican
- St Peter's Basilica