Description
Piazza Venezia is the great monumental crossroads at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, in the center of Rome. Here Via del Corso, Via dei Fori Imperiali, Via del Teatro di Marcello and the axes of Via Nazionale and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II meet. It is the heart of the capital's traffic and parades.
The square is dominated by the Vittoriano, the gleaming white monument to Victor Emmanuel II, inaugurated in 1911. At its center is the Altare della Patria, where the Unknown Soldier has been buried since 1921. It is a symbol of Italian unity, and it was placed near the Capitoline so that it would dominate the square.
Three palaces stand around it. Palazzo Venezia, from the 1400s, is the oldest: it was a residence of the popes and then the embassy of the Serene Republic. Palazzo Bonaparte, from the 1600s, hosted Napoleon's mother. The Generali building, from the early 1900s, picks up the proportions of Palazzo Venezia.
People also come to the square for the great national ceremonies: on April 25, June 2 and November 4 the Liberation, the Republic Day and Armed Forces Day are celebrated here.
To make room for the Vittoriano, between the late 1800s and 1911, whole buildings were demolished and the square was widened and made symmetrical, under the direction of the architect Giuseppe Sacconi. The Palazzetto Venezia was taken apart and rebuilt piece by piece a little farther on.
Behind a small balcony at the corner with Via del Corso, in Palazzo Bonaparte, an elderly lady spent her days watching the square. She was Letizia Ramolino, Napoleon's mother, who lived here from 1818 until her death.
When she went blind she did not give up her pastime: she had her housekeeper tell her about life in the street.
From the balcony of Palazzo Venezia Julius II watched the race of the Barbary horses along Via del Corso. Centuries later, from that same balcony, Mussolini announced the Empire in 1936 and the entry into the war in 1940.
A little farther on, on the Generali building, a plaque marks Michelangelo's house, demolished during the works for the Vittoriano.
The square is dominated by the Vittoriano, the gleaming white monument to Victor Emmanuel II, inaugurated in 1911. At its center is the Altare della Patria, where the Unknown Soldier has been buried since 1921. It is a symbol of Italian unity, and it was placed near the Capitoline so that it would dominate the square.
Three palaces stand around it. Palazzo Venezia, from the 1400s, is the oldest: it was a residence of the popes and then the embassy of the Serene Republic. Palazzo Bonaparte, from the 1600s, hosted Napoleon's mother. The Generali building, from the early 1900s, picks up the proportions of Palazzo Venezia.
People also come to the square for the great national ceremonies: on April 25, June 2 and November 4 the Liberation, the Republic Day and Armed Forces Day are celebrated here.
To make room for the Vittoriano, between the late 1800s and 1911, whole buildings were demolished and the square was widened and made symmetrical, under the direction of the architect Giuseppe Sacconi. The Palazzetto Venezia was taken apart and rebuilt piece by piece a little farther on.
Behind a small balcony at the corner with Via del Corso, in Palazzo Bonaparte, an elderly lady spent her days watching the square. She was Letizia Ramolino, Napoleon's mother, who lived here from 1818 until her death.
When she went blind she did not give up her pastime: she had her housekeeper tell her about life in the street.
From the balcony of Palazzo Venezia Julius II watched the race of the Barbary horses along Via del Corso. Centuries later, from that same balcony, Mussolini announced the Empire in 1936 and the entry into the war in 1940.
A little farther on, on the Generali building, a plaque marks Michelangelo's house, demolished during the works for the Vittoriano.