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The Monumento
Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of
the Fatherland) or Il
Vittoriano is a monument to honour
Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified
Italy. It is located in Rome, Italy. It
occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and
the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed
by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895. It was inaugurated
in 1911 and completed in 1925.The monument is
built of pure white marble and features
majestic stairways, tallCorinthian columns,
fountains, a huge equestrian sculpture of
Victor Emmanuel and two statues of goddess
Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is
135 meters (490 ft) wide and 70 meters
(230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged
victories are included, the height is to 81
meters (265 ft)The base of the structure
houses the museum of Italian Reunification.The
monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
with an eternal flame, built under the statue
of Italy after World War I following an idea of
General Giulio Douhet. The body of the unknown
soldier was chosen by Maria Bergamas of
Gradisca D' Isonzo before 1919 an
Austrian-Hungarian village, whose only child
was a deserter of Austro-Hungarian Army than a
soldier of the Regio Esercito was missing in
action during World War I; between 11 other
bodies of unknown soldiers/sailors of the armed
forces of the Kingdom of Italy. The body was
transfered from Aquileia, where the ceremony
with Bergamas took place to Rome in late
October to early November of. |