ROME (AP) — Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain reopened Sunday after three months of renovations, just in time for the inauguration of the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year that is expected to draw millions of visitors.
The renovation work on the 18th-century monument that's one of the Italian capital's main attractions cost 327,000 euros ($341,000).
To avoid overcrowding, the monument will be limited to 400 visitors at a time.
“This way visitors will have ample opportunity to observe it and understand the values it embodies,” said Claudio Parisi Presicce, Rome’s superintendent for cultural heritage.
To manage the overwhelming number of visitors, and the huge crowd expected for the Jubilee, Rome City officials have been devising a plan to block off the area around the fountain.
Visitors will be required to book online and pay 2 euros ($2.20) to enter. Once inside, they will have 30 minutes to enjoy the fountain.
During the revonation work, visitors could make their traditional coin toss into a makeshift pool. City lore has it that tossing a coin into the Baroque fountain will ensure a return trip to Rome.
The tradition generates an estimated 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) annually, which has been donated to the Catholic charity Caritas for the past 15 years.
Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri, center, tosses a coin into the 18th century Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most iconic landmarks, as it reopens to the public after undergoing maintenance, just on time for the start of the Jubilee Year, an event expected to draw millions of visitors to the Eternal City, in Rome, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of the 18th century Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most iconic landmarks, as it reopens to the public after undergoing maintenance, just on time for the start of the Jubilee Year, an event expected to draw millions of visitors to the Eternal City, in Rome, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
People admire the 18th century Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most iconic landmarks, as it reopens to the public after undergoing maintenance, just on time for the start of the Jubilee Year, an event expected to draw millions of visitors to the Eternal City, in Rome, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.
Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.
Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.
The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”
Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.
To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.
Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.
Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.
Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
