Piazza Venezia lies at the heart of Rome at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and beside Trajan’s Forum. The main road Viale di Fori Imperiale starts here and goes past the Roman Forum and Colosseum, and in the other direction Via del Plebiscito leads into Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, with the two roads together practically dissecting the whole city centre.The austere yet imposing Altare della Patria (Altar to the Fatherland) also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) was completed in 1925 and dominates the square visually with its gleaming white marble and almost unbelievable scale. The ‘Vittoriano’, as it is commonly known, was constructed in honour of the first king of unified Italy and holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the eternal flame, but the monument still courts controversy due to its garish appearance and the fact that a large area of medieval Rome was destroyed for its sake. Round the back of the equestrian statue is the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento Italiano, which offers a fascinating insight into the unification of Italy, and is well worth a visit if not just for the viewing platform that overlooks the nearby ancient ruins.On the left-hand side of the square and next to the Church of St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint, is the Palazzo Venezia, built in the mid-15th century for Cardinal Pietro Barbo who then became Pope Paul II, and the former embassy of the city of the Republic of Venice to Rome. The fascist dictator Benito Mussolini also made use of the palace four centuries later as the headquarters for his movement, and could be seen addressing his public from the balcony. Nowadays it houses the Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, which has numerous paintings, sculptures and woodcarvings of renown on display, including Francesco Solimena’s Wedding at Cana and Donato Creti’s Dance of the Nymphs.
Piazza Venezia is situated close to the Roman Forum, Colosseum and Pantheon and is the crossing point of a number of major arterial routes in the city.
