The big white monument of Rome called the Vittoriano (the Altar of the
Fatherland) takes its name from the King Vittorio Emanuele II, the first
king of Italy. It is located on Piazza Venezia (Square of Venice) - the central part of Rome.
The work was commissioned by the son as a tribute to his father. King Vittorio Emanuele II died in 1878 and in 1880 were done the first projects for the construction of the monument. In 1882 the authorities organized a competition for only Italian
designers in order to create a work that would follow certain
characteristics.
It had to be aligned with Via del Corso, located in the northern
part of the Capitol and have a bronze statue of the king on horse.The winner was the architect Giovanni Sacconi Marche.
The Vittoriano was inaugurated in Rome in June 4 in 1911 by Vittorio Emanuele III. During the World Expo they showed the monument to the public and celebrated with it the first fifty years of Italian unification.
In 1921, under the statue was done the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in order to commemorate many soldiers who died during wars and we do not know their
identity or place of burial.The decorations that adorn the Victorian are statues, chariots, winged figures, plants. Their meanings are varied, but some of the major symbols refer to
those who are considered the most important characteristics of the Italian people: the power,
the right, the action, the sacrifice, the thought and harmony.
The Vittoriano in Rome is worth seeing and in addition it is free. Every month we can admire various collections of artefacts, very often related to the story of the Unification.
