Selfie Tourism Is Sending Travelers to Unlikely Italian Destinations

As people have traveled far from home over the years, some spaces in distant cities have consistently drawn the attention of tourists from all over the world. The appeal of other historic buildings and noteworthy destinations can wax and wane, with one generation’s hotspot becoming another’s overlooked gem. But with the advent of TikTok, there’s a new factor that’s heightened the popularity of some locales: namely, how condusive they are to selfies.

In a new article for The Guardian, Angela Giuffrida chronicled the TikTok-fueled increase in popularity of some Roman destinations. These include the Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola, a 17th-century church, which now has a dedicated entrance for visitors who are looking to take a memorable selfie and move on. The church did not intend to attract visitors with their phones at the ready; instead, they installed a mirror to give visitors a better view of the church’s frescoes. As it turns out, a good view of the ceiling can also translate to a memorable selfie backdrop.

The church has profited — literally — from TikTok aficionados making their way there. If you’re looking to visit the church through the selfie-adjacent entrance, it’ll cost you one Euro, as compared to the nonexistent entry fee to enter via the other door.

“[A]ll you have to do is look up to see the fresco, but here we have people paying €1 to take a photo in the mirror,” Alessandro Marinucci, who was on line to visit the church, told The Guardian.

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The Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola isn’t the only photogenic Roman destination drawing a tech-savvy crowd. Giuffrida also highlighted the Passetto del Biscione and the Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum as sites that have seen an uptick of visitors. The juxtaposition of social media and historic sites might seem surreal at first. Then again, selfies are a relatively recent phenomenon, but people have been drawn to visually distinctive spaces for as long as we’ve felt the need to explore somewhere new.