User:JustinePorto/Public toilets in Italy

Public toilets in Italy, called latrina or gabinetto, are relatively common at seven per 100,000 people. They are found at bus stations, train stations, bars and cafes. Some charge. Italy has a long history of public toilets, dating back to the Roman period, with over 300 built in Rome in that era.

Public toilets
The local word for public toilet is latrina or gabinetto. The local word for toilet paper is carta.

A 2021 study found there were seven public toilets per 100,000 people. Public toilets are commonly found at bus and train stations, along with cafes and bars. The most common type of toilet is a sit toilet, and most public toilets provide toilet paper. Italian law requires that taps at sink be touchless. Some sinks do this by having a sensor. Others do this by having a foot pedal to turn on the water. The typical charge to use a public toilet is €0.60. Some public toilets have attendants, who keep the place clean and make sure there is toilet paper stocked. People are expected to tip toilet attendants.

There is an outdoor public toilet located on the highest peak in the Dolomites. There is a public toilet in the Royal Gardens in Venice.

Toilet hygiene
Bidets are popular for personal use. Bidet use remained popular in the 2010s.

Despite toilet paper being used in parts of China starting in the mid-800s, paper was expensive to produce and considered valuable; this meant most places did not start using toilet paper until relatively late. Many people used newspapers for toilet paper in the early part of the 20th century. Rolls of toilet paper were first sold in Europe in 1928. Soft paper rolls were not introduced to Europe until 1942.

History
The Jennings & Company had installed their flush toilets in public toilets in Paris, Florence, Madrid, Berlin, Sydney and South America by 1895.

During the 1980s, people often complained about the lack of the public toilets in Venice. Starting in the 1990s, Azienda multiservizi ambientale Veneziana began to construct more public toilets in or near many of the main squares in the city. Most bars in Venice in the 1990s had toilets that were accessible to the public.

Many restaurants and cafes in Venice in the late 2000s had signs saying, "No toilets." In 2009, the tourist rate in Venice for a single public toilets use was €1. To attract tourists, public toilet operators created a 5 day, 10 use €7 public toilet pass that was sold online. The cost was reduced to €5 in the low season. The same pass when sold at public toilets or other pass vendors cost €9 and €7 respectively. An online special daily rate was also offered at €2 for 2 visits in the low season and 2 visits for €1 in the low season. The cost of the physical card itself was €3 in the high season and €1.50 in the low season. Local residents had a discounted rate of €0.25 per use.

Ancient Rome
The first public toilets were called public latrines, and were built in Rome. Cloacina was the goddess of the sewers. Large amounts of work on them began in the 2nd Century, and took place across the Roman Empire. This improvement was generally widely approved of, and locals integrated using these facilities into their daily lives. The system of public sanitation developed by the Roman Empire needed to serve a population of 1 million people living in the city. There were 144 public toilets in Rome by 315 CE, eventually topping more than 300. Despite the presence of public toilets in ancient Rome, people still urinated on the streets.

In ancient Rome, people used to have to pay one or two coins to use public toilets.

Going to the public toilets in the Roman period was a social event, where people met up with friends, had conversations, and discussed what was going on in their community. This was not always the case as many facilities were dimly lit, and not conducive to having conversations. Public toilets in ancient Rome were for use by men only. The distance between seats was often very small around 30 cm.

Most toilets were built over sewage tunnels. Users had to be careful because there was always a risk they could be bitten by rats. As a result of the mixing of hydrogen sulfide and methane, public toilets in ancient Rome sometimes exploded. Wealthier people in the times of the Roman Empire had private toilets in their residences. The less well off could access public toilets. These facilities were not private; they were a set of seats made of stone set next to each other with nothing between them.

In the Roman period, people used a short wooden pole with a sponge affixed to the end to clean themselves after urinating and defecating. After being used, it was then cleaned in a channel that ran in front of the toilet. Surplus water was often used by Roman aqueducts for flushing sewer systems and public toilets.

Romans who lacked access to public toilets in their home often urinated and defecated into pots and pails in their homes, dumping their contents into the street and waterways until that was banned by law.

One of the major differences between the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans was that the Romans supported public baths so that all classes of the population could maintain a certain level of cleanliness. The ancient Romans also prioritized providing clean water for use in public baths and fountains. Emperor Titus implemented a number of taxes, including one on urine from public toilets that went to tanneries.