The Monument to Victor Emmanuel II rises in white stone above Piazza Venezia as a national memorial to Italian unification. Its stairways, terraces, colonnade, and bronze chariots form an ascending civic narrative around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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The bright white monument dominates the edge of Piazza Venezia, but its stairways make it read as a journey upward rather than a single statue. Giuseppe Sacconi’s design was selected after competitions in 1880 and 1882; construction began in 1885, and the monument opened unfinished in 1911 for the fiftieth anniversary of Italian unification.
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- Giuseppe Sacconi’s design was chosen after competitions in 1880 and 1882.
- The monument was inaugurated in 1911, though work continued until 1935.
- The Unknown Soldier was buried here in 1921.
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