Vittoriano Milite, Rome
The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or Il Vittoriano is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. It is located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895. It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925.The monument is built of pure white marble and features majestic stairways, tallCorinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 meters (490 ft) wide and 70 meters (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 meters (265 ft)The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification.The monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, built under the statue of Italy after World War I following an idea of General Giulio Douhet. The body of the unknown soldier was chosen by Maria Bergamas of Gradisca D' Isonzo before 1919 an Austrian-Hungarian village, whose only child was a deserter of Austro-Hungarian Army than a soldier of the Regio Esercito was missing in action during World War I; between 11 other bodies of unknown soldiers/sailors of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy.