Syracuse, drunken tourists bathe in Diana's fountain and damage it

It will cost dearly their vacation (and hangover) in Italy to a pair of English tourists in their thirties who last night, on their last night of stay in Syracuse, had the nice idea of bathing in the Fountain of Diana, a monumental work built between 1906 and 1907 to a design by Giulio Moschetti from the Marche region (but adopted from Catania), a pupil of Tadolini and Podesti. The two young men, conspicuously drunk, decided to refresh themselves in the waters of the fountain in Piazza Archimede, heedless of passers-by -- and also of the police.

In fact, a patrol of the carabinieri passed by the place, who pulled the two tourists out of the water, noting, however, that during the bath, the two 30-year-olds had damaged the sculpture, in particular the right big toe of the statue of the nymph Arethusa, breaking it. The two young people (the man a teacher by profession, the woman a nurse, residents of London) were immediately charged with aggravated damage (they face imprisonment of six months to three years). The military then recovered the broken finger, which had fallen to the bottom of the fountain: it will now be entrusted to restorers.

Pictured: the Diana fountain. Ph. Credit Maurizio Formati

Syracuse, drunken tourists bathe in Diana's fountain and damage it

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