Tourists wanting to view the Basilica in Saint Mark's Square have had to pay for the privilege, thanks to an experimental entrance fee introduced in the city.

From CNN Travel, Venice officials have hailed a temporary entrance fee to the city a success, as they experiment with measures aimed at controlling the number of people who come to visit.

A 29-day €5 reservation entrance fee and reservation experiment, which began on April 25 and ran on selected days until July 14, brought in €2,425,310 (around $2.64 million), according to Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro. The city initially expected to collect around €700,000 (about $762,163) when the plan was introduced, the mayor had said in April.

A total of 3,618,114 individuals made reservations, of whom 1,398,084 were exempted from payment because they stayed in hotels.