The Dogali Obelisk is positioned along the Via delle Terme di Diocleziane, about halfway between Roma Termini central station and Piazza della Repubblica in Rome. This obelisk has a twin in the Boboli Garden in Florence.
Dogali Obelisk Rome
History and description
Like the obelisks that today adorn the Piazza della Rotonda and the Villa Celimontana, the Dogali Obelisk and the obelisk in the Boboli Gardens in Florence were brought from Heliopolis to Rome in order to adorn the (no longer existing) Temple of Isis near the Pantheon.
The Dogali Obelisk is made of red granite and is over 9 meters tall. The inscriptions are dedicated to the sun god.
In 1719, during the laying of the foundation for the Biblioteca Casanatense, parts of the obelisk were accidentally discovered.
Immediately after the unification of Italy, a commission was created to begin systematic excavations. It took till 1883 for the entire obelisk to be recovered.
It was evident that this was a twin of the memorial pole already placed in the Boboli Gardens.
In 1885, war broke out between Italy and Ethiopia and more than 500 Italian soldiers were killed in an ambush near Dogali. Two years later, the obelisk was placed in memory in the station square, with the names of the fallen on bronze plaques at the base and lions at the foot of the monument.
In 1924, when the entire district was reorganized, the obelisk was moved to its present location in Via delle Terme di Diocleziane.