Tourists from US and UK caught in Piazza Farnese fountain.

Rome police caught two young tourists splashing around in an historic fountain in the central Piazza Farnese on Monday night, reports La Repubblica newspaper.

The pair, a 21-year-old American man and a 20-year-old English woman, were apprehended in the waters of the fountain facing the church of S. Brigida, in front of the French embassy to Italy.

The tourists, who still had their clothes on, were fined a total of €900 and ordered to stay away from the historic centre for 48 hours.

There did not appear to be any damage done to the ancient monument, reports La Repubblica.

The granite fountain is part of a pair believed to have come originally from the Baths of Caracalla before being placed in Piazza Farnese in the 16th century.

Incidents involving tourists jumping into Rome's fountains occur every year, but not as often as before the covid pandemic and the subsequent fall-off in visitor numbers.

In 2019, following a spate of such incidents, the city's mayor Virginia Raggi contacted foreign ambassadors in the capital to highlight the bad behaviour of some of their fellow citizens - whom she referred to as "tourist vandals" - while on holiday in Rome. 

Photo La Repubblica