Truth is, it was bound to happen.

Church officials at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, site of Rome’s “Mouth of Truth” (Bocca della Verita), have decided to charge visitors €2 for the pleasure of taking one (just one!) photo with the ancient sewer cover.

Visitors will still be able to enter the church, which houses the reliquary of the head of Saint Valentine, without paying an entry fee.

I lamented in an earlier post about how I had not had a chance to see the photo-op-ready monument since moving here. I regret that I will now have to pay for the privilege. But maybe this move will thin out the lines and help the church pay for much-needed repairs.

Source: €2 to see Rome’s ‘mouth of truth’? That’s no lie | World news | The Guardian

Updated November 19th, 2019
Originally published September 21, 2016