Mussolini’s Balcony
From this balcony on Palazzo Venezia, Benito Mussolini made history in his famous speech by declaring his intention to enter World War II.  This event influenced the history of Italy and of the Italian people for years to come.

Way of Reconciliation
Via della Conciliazione (or “Way of Reconciliation”) is the work of architects Piacentini and Spaccarelli. This imposing street cuts a direct path through winding medieval and renaissance structures and streets. It was finished in 1950 with the erection of two rows of obelisks which serve as lamp posts. The name, proposed by the journalist Franco Franchi, was intended to memorialize the Lateran Pact of 1929 that forged the historic peace between the Catholic Church and the State of Italy.

The Victor Emmanuel Monument
The Altare della Patria monument was built in Rome near the Campidoglio.  The idea for its construction came right after the death in 1878 of the first Italian king, Vittorio Emanuele II, whom it was built to honor.  It was started by the Count Giuseppe Sacconi and was dedicated in 1911 by Vittorio Emanuele III during the fiftieth anniversary of the Italian unification.  It was dedicated again in 1925 with the name Altare della Patria.  Its style is classical, and it is characterized by a big staircase with the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II by Enrico Chiaradia at the top.  The tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI is another important aspect of the monument and was built in 1921 to represent the unclaimed remains of anonymous soldiers who died during the first world war.

Plaque to Aldo Moro
The case of Aldo Moro is an event still alive in the mind of the Italians. Aldo Moro, a Democratic and Christian politician and statesman, was found dead in a red Renault parked symbolically half way between the headquarters of the DC (the Italian Christian Democratic Party) and of the PCI (the Italian Communist Party). The honorable Aldo Moro, president of the DC, was kidnapped in Rome on March 16th, 1978 by the Red Brigades while he was going to Parliament. In Parliament he would have participated in the debate over the approval of Andreotti’s new government which was created by the support and the entrance of the PCI into the parliamentary majority. Moro approved of this political action. The Red Brigades killed all five men in his escort and, during the following fifty-five days of his captivity, asked for political recognition of their movement. They also asked that all members of the Red Brigades who were undergoing trial in Turin be liberated. The political parties were divided about the solution: the PCI and the DC wanted to be firm and unyielding, while the PSI (the Italian Socialist Party) wanted to make a deal.  Pope Paul VI as well as the Cosa Nostra (an organized crime group) also tried to convince the Red Brigades to free Moro, but it was all in vain and Moro was killed on May 9th, 1978.

Porta Pia
On September 20th 1870, Italian troops entered the papal city through Porta Pia, heralding the end of the Pope’s temporal authority in the Papal State of Italy.  Nearby, there is the Museum of the Bersaglieri troops with documents and artifacts from the Italian Army. Architecturally, Porta Pia is an innovative transitional work between the High Renaissance and the Baroque.  It was built by Michelangelo under the commission of the Medici pope Pius IV in 1561-64, and during the XIX century Virginio Vespignani restored various parts of the monument.