Question

Why do toilets in Italy have no seats?

Answer 1

Toilets in Italy have no seats as it's seen as more hygienic to have seat free toilets when stranger's are sharing the same toilet.

It's seen as unsanitary in Italy for strangers to share the same toilet seat so they don't have toilet seats in Italy.

Public bathrooms in Italy usually have seatless toilets and you usually have to pay a small fee for the service.

While using a free bathroom may sound tempting, know that they're usually dirty.

It's worth the small fee to be able to use a clean bathroom!

France, Portugal, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, and Spain: Instead of toilet paper, people from these countries (most of them from Europe) usually have a bidet in their washrooms.

A bidet like a toilet, but also includes a spout that streams water like a water fountain to rinse you clean.

While today the bidet has somewhat fallen out of use in France, it has been adopted as fundamental part of life in Italy.

In fact the bidet is now so ingrained into Italian culture that it's a legal obligation to put a bidet in every bathroom that is built on domestic or hotel property.

When you are traveling in Italy you will see strings hanging down the wall over tubs and shower stalls.

This is actually an alarm system required by building code, especially for hotels and other places renting out rooms or apartments to travelers.

Bidets are found in pretty much every Italian home and hotel but are seen as a little too fancy for public restrooms.

(Though even that is not unheard of).

They are almost always standalone bidets, which are located next to or close to the toilet.

Answer 2

The reason Italy doesn't have toilet seats is because of the toilet seats being broken by people squatting on the toilet seats to poop.

The toilets in Italy did used to have toilet seats but over time the toilets seats would get broken because people in Italy would stand on the toilet seats so they could squat to poop.

So as a result the toilet seats would get broken and so people in Italy decided to stop using toilet seats.

Many areas of Europe may have public toilets without seats.

France, Italy, and Greece are three countries known for toilets without seats.

It has nothing to do with the operation of the toilet itself.

Instead, some toilets have had their seats removed due to maintenance issues.

France and Italy also have some squat toilets remaining in old buildings and public toilets because they used to be the norm there in the early 20th century.

In BMW Welt in Munich, the public restrooms have some stalls with squat toilets.

Squatting is the more natural way to poop instead of sitting.

For example kids who are in diapers and are not potty trained will often squat down somewhere or at least partially squat down to poop.

Squatting makes it easier for the poop to come out than it does to sit.