For First Time In Memory, Vatican Turns Off Its Fountains As Drought Worsens
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Vatican authorities began on Monday to turn off some 100 fountains, including two Baroque masterpieces in St. Peter's Square, due to a prolonged drought affecting the tiny city state and the city of Rome which surrounds it.
Suffocating summer heat has followed two years of lower-than-average rainfall in Rome, forcing the Italian capital to close drinking fountains and consider the prospect of water rationing.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said it was the first time authorities in the spiritual home of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics could remember being forced to turn off the fountains.
Standing in St. Peter's Square, where two fountains by 17th-century sculptors Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini stood dry, Burke said the Vatican wanted to help.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-drought-vatican-idUSKBN1A92JB
