The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II / Mole del) Vittoriano, also improperly called Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), is a national monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel I, who was the first king of a unified Italy.
In Rome this monument is referred to as “The Wedding Cake”, “The Typewriter” and “False Teeth” (obviously English translations of the Italian nicknames)
We visited the Vittorio Emmanuelle II Monument on a drizzly grey Thursday morning. As we climbed the eternal steps to the monument, the guards were changing guards which was an interesting spectacle to observe.
The Monument is one of the many free things to do in Rome; you usually pay a small fee (we think it is €10) to use the panoramic elevator at the Monument; the day we visited there was no fee for the use of the elevator – bonus!
The equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II, a bronze work by Enrico Chiaradia, 12 m (39 ft) high and 10 m (33 ft) long and weighs 50 tons including the marble base, the entire sculptural group is 24.80 m (81 ft) high.
When we participated in the “Not so touristy tour” walking tour, we were told that when the equestrian statue arrived in Rome, everyone involved in commissioning the statue climbed inside the horse and DINED inside the statue
Views from the terrace of the Vittorio Emmanuelle II Monument after ascending to the terrace via the panoramic elevator. Despite the wet and rainy day, the views were spectacular against the backdrop of the silvery greyness of the Roman skies
View from Vittorio Emmanuele down Via dei Fori Imperiali to the Colosseum
On top of Rome, not on top of the world
From statues, church spires, views of ancient ruins, walking into the monument into the inside the building is the Institute for the History of the Italian Risorgimento and the Central Museum of the Risorgimento.
From the Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument, we walked diagonally across the Piazza Venezia to the Palazzo Venezia – we had picked a “free entrance” day to visit the Palazzo and this photo is a view of the Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument from a very wide terrace at the Palazzo Venezia
National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia
The Palazzo Venezia, formerly the Palace of St Mark, is a palazzo (palace), which now houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia.
The original structure of this architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval house intended as the residence of the cardinals appointed to the church of San Marco. It became a residential papal palace, in 1469, having undergone a massive extension. Pope Pius IV in 1564, in order to win the sympathies of the Republic of Venice, gave the mansion to the Venetian embassy to Rome on the terms that part of the building would be kept as a residence for the cardinals.
The Palace became the Fascist head-quarters from 1929 to 1943 and after the Second World War the museum opened again to the public.
In 2010, Mussolini’s ‘most secret bunker’ was discovered beneath the building.
The museum is just incredible with so many rooms filled with artefacts, painting, statues, sculptures, mosaics, crockery and so much more from all the ages.
Statue of Cola di Rienzo is established to the right of the Vittorio Emmanuel II monument, below the Church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli / Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven
This Church became the centre of religious and civic life in Rome during the Middle Ages, in particular during the republican experience of the 14th century. Cola di Rienzo, at this time known as the self-proclaimed Tribune and reviver of the Roman Republic, inaugurated the monumental stairway of 124 steps in front of the church, which were designed in 1348 by Simone Andreozzi, on the occasion of the Black Death. Condemned criminals were executed at the foot of the steps; and it was at the foot of the steps that Cola di Rienzo met his death, close to near the spot where his statue commemorates him.
Piazza del Campidoglio
Michelangelo piazza also known as Piazza del Campidoglio is reached by climbing a flight of steps known as cordonata (graded ramp).It is encircled by two identical buildings (Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, which is home to the Capitoline Museum which we did not go into as the entry fee is quite steep) and Palazzo Senatorio, which serves as the seat of the Mayor of Rome (not accessible to the public).The piazza was designed by Michelangelo in the 16th century
At the top of the cordonata at the entrance to the piazza, are these two large classical statues of the Dioscuri Castor and Pollux.They date back to the antiquity. Originally they stood near the Temple of Castor and Pollux and were placed in the Piazza della Campidoglio in 1583
In the centre of the piazza is the equestrian statue of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
The statue is a replica - the original was replaced in 1981 and moved to the Capitoline Museums in order to protect it from the elements.
The monumental staircase in front of the Palazzo Senatorio is another creation of Michelangelo. The statues on either side of the double staircase represent the Nile (left) and the Tiber (right). Both statues were created in the first century AD and were discovered in the ruins of the Baths of Constantine. The statue of the goddess Minerva in the central niche was modified to symbolise Roma, the personification of the city of Rome.
