{"id":384,"date":"2026-03-20T11:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=384"},"modified":"2026-03-20T11:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:34:24","slug":"victor-immanuel-ii-monument","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=384","title":{"rendered":"Victor\u00a0Immanuel\u00a0II\u00a0Monument\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Italy\u2019s largest civic monument, the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (Vittoriano), visibly and dramatically imposes itself on the northern side of the Capitoline Hill next to the Church of Santa Maria in\u00a0Aracoelii. This national monument stands in the center of the\u00a0City\u00a0overlooking Piazza Venezia. Constructed between 1885 and 1935 and designed by\u00a0Giuseppe\u00a0Sacconi,\u00a0<\/strong>it celebrates the unification of Italy achieved by the seizure of Rome in 1870, pays tribute to the role of Victor Emmanuel as Father of the Fatherland, symbolizes national patriotism, and represents the civil and\u00a0secular counterpart to St. Peter\u2019s Basilica\u00a0<\/strong>whose size, grandiosity, and visibility\u00a0it very intentionally and ostentatiously reflects.\u00a0Neoclassical in style,\u00a0<\/strong>within its several levels appear the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel,\u00a0Altar\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Fatherland<\/strong>,\u00a0altar\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0goddess\u00a0Roma,\u00a0the\u00a0Tomb\u00a0of the Unknown\u00a0Soldier<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>and the Eternal Flame.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Its diverse features include stairways, Corinthian columns, two fountains (symbols\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a02\u00a0surrounding\u00a0seas,\u00a0(Tyrrhenian\u00a0and\u00a0Adriatic),\u00a0bas\u00a0reliefs\u00a0of all the regions of Italy, the\u00a0equestrian\u00a0statue\u00a0of\u00a0King Victor\u00a0Emmanuel II<\/strong>, (the largest monument in the world to a state leader),a portico, 16 statues representing the provinces of Italy, a statue of the goddess of victory on\u00a0two\u00a0chariots, the\u00a0Museum of Italian\u00a0Unification (Risorgimento), and\u00a0terrace for visitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From\u00a0the\u00a0very\u00a0beginning\u00a0the\u00a0monument\u00a0aroused\u00a0great\u00a0controversy\u00a0because of its size, ostentation, and the off-setting bright white color of its\u00a0Brescian\u00a0marble. Quickly, it\u00a0acquired\u00a0nicknames such as \u201cwedding cake<\/strong>\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0\u201ctypewriter\u201d and \u201cthe dentures\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At\u00a0the\u00a0base\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0monument once\u00a0marked\u00a0the\u00a0starting\u00a0point\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Via\u00a0Flaminia<\/span><\/strong>, an important ancient consular road leading from Rome northward to Rimini on the Adriatic coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Along its path just outside the City, Constantine <\/strong>experienced his famous vision of the Cross in the sky which resulted in his conversion to Christianity and ultimately to the Christianization of the Roman Empire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constructed\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a03rd<\/sup>\u00a0century,\u00a0it\u00a0opened\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0north\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0Porta\u00a0del Popolo and by way of the\u00a0Via Lata (modern Via del Corso<\/strong>)<\/span>\u00a0del Corso connected to the base of the Capitoline Hill where the Victor\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emmanuel II monument stands today. Roman Carnival racehorses finished their races at this spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two\u00a0of\u00a0its\u00a0original\u00a0Via\u00a0Flaminia\u00a0milestones,\u00a0<\/strong>the\u00a0major\u00a0Roman\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0north, decorate the\u00a0balustrade<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0the Capitoline\u00a0Hill<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the grassy area on the left of the base of the Victor Emmanuel II Monument\u00a0remains\u00a0the highly unusual fragment of the\u00a0Tomb of Gaius\u00a0Publicius\u00a0Bibulus<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0a\u00a03rd<\/sup>\u00a0century\u00a0BC\u00a0plebeian\u00a0aedile\u00a0who\u00a0by\u00a0an\u00a0exceptional Senate decree was\u00a0permitted\u00a0burial within the confines of the city walls. It once stood on the east side of the Via Flaminia outside of the Porta Fontinalis, the edge of the Roman boundary line.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Italy\u2019s largest civic monument, the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (Vittoriano), visibly and dramatically imposes itself on the northern side of the Capitoline Hill next to the Church of Santa Maria in\u00a0Aracoelii. This national monument stands in the center of the\u00a0City\u00a0overlooking Piazza Venezia. Constructed between 1885 and 1935 and designed by\u00a0Giuseppe\u00a0Sacconi,\u00a0it celebrates the unification of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-384","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}