Tourists turn on the Eternal City: Rome's Trevi fountain is emptied and fences go up around the Colosseum as 'building site' city is branded a 'mess' amid chaotic face-lift for 2025 festival

Tourists appear to have turned on Rome after the city's Trevi fountain was emptied and fences went up around the Colosseum in preparation for a festival in 2025.

Rome has been branded 'a mess' by disappointed visitors who came to see the famous sights and instead were met by construction sites.

At the Trevi Fountain, visitors are now being forced to toss coins over a plastic barrier and into a small makeshift pool while the attraction is being drained for maintenance.

Meanwhile, the Colosseum is surrounded by construction barriers and the Dea Roma fountain on the Piazza del Popolo has been fenced off, leaving it almost hidden behind the scaffolding.

'The magic is lost,' one tourist wrote on Tripadvisor , with another adding that people shouldn't travel to the Eternal City until 2026.

'Don't go this year and don't go next year. Currently it's a mess, no water in [the Trevi fountain] or many other fountains, has metal fencing around it like many things/attractions in Rome, all being done up for the 2025 celebration,' the British tourist from Hitchin said.

More than 32 million pilgrims are expected in Rome next year for the Jubilee - a holy year proclaimed by Pope Francis which takes place every 25 years -, putting Rome's antiquated infrastructure under enormous strain.

Taking advantage of the event, Rome has pooled billions of euros of state and European funds to overhaul tourist sites, transport hubs, parks, streets and even its rubbish bins.

The frenzy of work has snarled traffic, to the fury of residents, and left some visitors this year feeling short-changed as they weave their way through myriad building sites, but mayor Roberto Gualtieri promised it will all be worth it.

'This is an unmissable opportunity to make structural changes ... and transform Rome,' Gualtieri said in July. 'We are going to get a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative city that enhances its extraordinary heritage.'

Rome's monumental facelift ahead of the 2025 Roman Catholic Holy Year has left tourists feeling let down after seeing more scaffolding than famous sites.

'Nothing to see, whole place under construction... may just as well been on a building site anywhere in the world,' Francois T, from Johannesburg, South Africa, wrote after his visit.

Angela G, from US state Arkansas, said after she went to the Trevi fountain: 'Don't go until after the Jubilee. It's barricaded up and has no water.

'Also, it's a circus around it. Tons of people trying to get that photo for [Instagram].'

The rectangular box placed in front of the fountain so tourists can throw coins into it has been labelled as 'ugly' in reviews online.

Visitor Jack also described the small pool as 'funny' on Google Reviews , adding that it meant money could still 'be collected for an attraction that doesn't work'.

City lore has it that tossing a coin into the Trevi fountain will ensure a return trip to Rome. This tradition generates an estimated 1.5million euros (£1.25million) annually, which has been donated to the Catholic charity Caritas for the past 15 years.

With a record 3,200 public construction works are underway, according to mayor Gualtieri, more tourists could be left disappointed if they visit before the Jubilee.

More than 320 of these construction works are deemed essential for the Jubilee, such as the creation of what Gualtieri promises will be 'one of the most beautiful squares in the world' by the Vatican.

The scheme involves shifting a major road junction underground and workmen are pulling overnight shifts to complete the project by December 24, when Pope Francis is due to open St. Peter's bronze Holy Door and inaugurate the Jubilee.

During a Jubilee, Catholics can obtain special indulgences, or remission of their sins, if they fulfil certain conditions and do good works or make pilgrimages.

The city council has marshalled 1.3 billion euros (£1billion) in special Jubilee funding from the state as well as some three billion euros (£2.5billion) from post-pandemic EU funds.

It has also put together financing for a further 4 billion euros (£3.3billion) to complete Rome's third metro line, which will connect the city's two main basilicas - St. Peter's and St. John Lateran - and dissect the heart of the art-rich centre.

One of Rome's busiest squares, Piazza Venezia, has been largely closed to traffic since the start of the year as a specially designed, 185-tonne hydro cutter begins digging a 280 feet ring that will eventually encase the new Metro C station, just down the track from the Colosseum.

Before any serious construction can start, workers will have to sift through the top 20 metres of earth, which is known to contain archaeological remains, while ensuring that nearby churches and palazzi don't suffer subsidence.

Underscoring the old adage that Rome wasn't built in a day, the Piazza Venezia station will not open for a decade.

'It is true that 10 years seems like a lot compared to the timelines for work in Madrid or London, but it is also true that in these stations we are not only handling the engineering but also the archaeology,' said project manager Andrea Sciotti.

The existing metro lines are undergoing major renovations to ensure they can handle the expected crowds, with two of the busiest stations, including that serving the Spanish Steps, about to close for a revamp.

The city is temporarily replacing trams with buses to allow for work on a new tram depot, while visitors arriving at the main railway station are greeted by mesh fencing and clouds of dust as the adjoining bus terminal gets a badly needed new look.

The intense activity has also engulfed tourist attractions. All of Piazza Navona's three fountains, including the celebrated Fountain of Four Rivers, are boarded up for restoration, likewise the Renaissance fountain in front of the Pantheon.

'We knew work was going on, but we didn't realise there would be quite so much. It is a bit of a bummer,' said Tom Pagano, a tourist from Sacramento, California, visiting a sun-drenched Rome with his wife and daughter.

'I guess there is so much to see here that you can always find something that isn't covered in scaffolding,' he added.