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The enormous white marble monument at the Piazza Venezia was built as a tribute to the first King of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. As King of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel had become a symbol of the movement for a united Italy. After his army joined forces with Garibaldi and defeated the papal army, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861 with Victor Emmanuel as King.

The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) called also Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or "Il Vittoriano" was begun in 1885 and inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935.

The edifice also contains a museum of the Risorgimento, the events that led to unification. Built in austere white Brescian marble, the “wedding cake” or “typewriter” (two of the many insulting nicknames given to this white elephant) will never mellow into the ochre tones of surrounding buildings. It is widely held to be the epitome of self-important, insensitive architecture, though the views that it offers are spectacular.

Days in front of this monument are crowded with thousands of tourists; evenings, however, is a different matter...people enjoying colder air, sitting on the marble, enjoying the wonderful views that this place offers. You can´t see the monument itself here, but it´s there, just out of the frame ;-)