The Mussolini Obelisk is located on the Foro Italico, just south of Rome‘s Olympic Stadium. The Obelisco Mussolini is also called the Monolite Dux and was created by Costantino Costantini in 1932.
Mussolini Obelisk Rome
Address and public transport
The address of the Mussolini Obelisk is Viale del Foro Italico – Rome. Public transport: Bus: 32.
History and description
It is right in the middle of the Piazza Lauro de Bosis, a square not unexpectedly characterized by mosaics exalting fascism and youth.
The obelisk was made after a number of industry leaders from Carrara gifted a huge marble monolith that was to be used for the creation of an obelisk dedicated to the former dictator.
The marble was donated in 1927, but it was not until November 4th 1932 that the inauguration took place. Both the extraction of the marble and its transportation to Rome turned out to be more difficult than expected. The last time obelisks had been moved from one spot to another within Rome was in the 16th century, so nobody had any experience in this kind of task.
The enormous slab of marble was pulled to the coast by sixty couples of oxen. After that it was moved along the coast and up the river Tiber by means of a special boat.
A concrete structure was created in order to be able to finally pull the obelisk up into a standing position.
Although the obelisk in itself does not exceed 17m, its total height including the base and the upper part is over 36m.
Several people believed the shiny top part to be made of real gold. After the war many Romans tried to climb the obelisk only to find out that this gold consisted of no more than some glittery stones.