Fascist Rome Tour: Mussolini's Phantom Legacy

Highlights

• Fascist Architecture
• Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro
• The Duce's Traces

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Piazza Venezia

   15min

   Piazza Venezia was the location of public speeches given by the Italian dictator Mussolini to crowds of Italians in the 1920s-1940s. Benito Mussolini used the Palazzo Venezia as his headquarter and addressed the people from the palace's balcony.

2. 2

   Stop 2

   Pass by

   Old Medieval area disemboweled by Mussolini

3. 3

   Palazzo della Civilta Italiana

   15min

   Allso known as the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro or simply the Colosseo Quadrato (Square Colosseum), is a building in the EUR district in Rome. The building was designed in 1937 to host the Mostra della Civiltà Romana during the 1942 World Fair by Italian architects Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano. It lies in the district of Rome known as the Esposizione Universale Roma (also known as E.42 and EUR). It is particularly symbolic of this district, exemplifying its monumentality. The building is an example of Italian Rationalism and of Fascist architecture.

4. 4

   Direzionale Eur

   15min

   Started at the end of 1937 and completed at the end of 1939, Palazzo Uffici, designed by Gaetano Minnucci, was the first permanent structure to be completed in the vast plan for the Rome Universal Exhibition. The beautiful bas-relief by Publio Morbiducci, at the main entrance to the building, represents "La storia di Roma attraverso le opere edilizie" ("The history of Rome through its building works").

5. 5

   Palazzo dei Ricevimenti e dei Congressi

   5min

   The palazzo was designed by Adalberto Libera for the 1942 Universal Exposition. Construction started in 1938 but was cancelled due to World War II. It was completed in 1954. Masterpieces of the Rationalism Architecture. The fresco by Achille Funi depicting scenes from the origins of Rome is the greatest artwork, still Unfinished, housed into the Palace

6. 6

   Museo della Civilta Romana

   5min

   The Museum of the Roman Civilization (Italian: Museo della Civiltà Romana) is a museum in Rome (Esposizione Universale Roma district), devoted to aspects of the Ancient Roman civilization.

7. 7

   Villa Torlonia

   15min

   The Beautiful Neoclassical Villa that was The Private House of Mussolini and his family in Rome.

8. 8

   Obelisco del Foro Italico

   5min

   This only modern obelisk in Rome was erected by Mussolini himself and bears the words "MVSSOLINI DVX" („Mussolini, the Leader") and the marking of the Italian Fascists. This "Obelisco di Mussolini" stands in the centre of the Foro Italico, which was originally known as the Foro Mussolini. The obelisk is erected out of Carrara-Marble and weighs as estimated 300 tonnes. At the top a golden point is fixed.

Before you go

Location

00187, Italy