Tourist flows should be monitored at famous sites in Italy in cities like Rome and Florence, with access limited when crowd numbers swell, the culture and tourism minister said on Tuesday. Italy's 51 UNESCO World Heritage sites include whole city centers and town squares which have been increasingly worn out by the footfall of visitors over the centuries.

Conscious of the money-spinning power of places like St Mark's Square in Venice, some officials have floated the idea of charging for access to currently public areas. But Culture and Tourism Minister Dario Franceschini has other ideas. "You cannot pay entry to a city, or a street, or a town square," Franceschini said at an event in Rome.