Climbing the statue in Florence for a selfie؛ Tourist Climbs Historic Fountain Statue in Florence for a Selfie, Damages 400-Year-Old Sculpture

Climbing the statue in Florence for a selfie

Climbing the statue in Florence for a selfie: Tourists Cause Trouble Again! 22-Year-Old German Immigrant Damages 400-Year-Old Statue in Florence for a Selfie

While on a trip to Italy, a 22-year-old German man climbed the statue of Neptune located in the Fountain of Neptune in Florence, which has a history of over 400 years, just to take a selfie. This resulted in damage to the statue. For this, the authorities will demand a hefty fine from the man and require him to pay €5,000 for repairs.

On Monday (September 5), the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) pointing out that the statue in the Fountain of Neptune was damaged and the whole climbing process of the tourist on the statue was captured by surveillance cameras, also triggering an alarm system.

He said the identity of the tourist had been confirmed as a 22-year-old German man, while also releasing the surveillance video and photos of the tourist. He further emphasized that any act of damaging cultural heritage is unreasonable and suggested the tourist should have directly taken a selfie with Neptune.

It is understood that when the 22-year-old man climbed the statue, he broke off a large marble piece from the chariot and also damaged the horse’s hoof when returning to the ground, with repair costs estimated at €5,000.

Built-in the 16th century, the Fountain of Neptune underwent a full renovation in 2018. Tommaso Muccini, the art architect responsible for managing the Old Palace (Palazzo Vecchio), said that when the tourist entered the fountain, the sensors did not immediately trigger an alarm, possibly due to interference from the spotlights passing over the fountain. However, the alarm did sound when the tourist left the fountain.

He also said the sensors will be updated during routine maintenance next month to ensure the immediate triggering of alarms, in hopes of preventing such incidents from recurring.

Italy has seen multiple incidents recently of tourists damaging historical sites. Last month, a group of German tourists toppled a 150-year-old statue inside an Italian villa. Additionally, aside from the perpetual graffiti and scribbling problems at the Roman Colosseum, strange tourists have also been climbing into the “Trevi Fountain” (also known as the “Fountain of Wishes”) to fill their water bottles.