Altar of the Fatherland (Vittoriano) Historical Timeline

A monument to a nation that had just invented itself, built by demolishing a quarter of the city it stands in, and given its present meaning by a war that had not yet happened when it was designed.

Chronology

1. 1885 — Giuseppe Sacconi's project is realised, in an eclectic style. Structural impact: fixes the scale and the vocabulary — a colonnade of columns 15 metres high over a 72-metre portico, above a monumental stairway. What you see today: the whole silhouette, which belongs to one designer rather than to a committee.
2. Late 1884–1899 — numerous expropriations and extensive demolitions clear the buildings on the site. Structural impact: a dense medieval and Renaissance quarter on the north slope of the Capitoline is removed to make room. What you see today: the reason the monument sits in an open void rather than in a street pattern, and one of the standing criticisms of it.
3. 4 June 1911 — the partly completed monument is inaugurated, for the Turin international exhibition and the fiftieth anniversary of unification. Structural impact: the building enters public use unfinished, which it remained for years. What you see today: a monument whose inauguration date precedes the thing it is now most visited for.
4. 28 October 1921 — Maria Bergamas, from Gradisca d'Isonzo, whose only child was killed in the First World War, chooses the body of the Unknown Soldier from among eleven unknown remains. Structural impact: the Altar of the Fatherland changes function, from a shrine of the goddess Roma to the tomb of a man. What you see today: the tomb beneath the statue of Roma, and the reason the monument is treated as a shrine rather than a viewpoint.
5. 4 November 1921 — the chosen soldier is transferred from Aquileia and buried in a state funeral. Structural impact: the eternal flame is installed, following an idea of General Giulio Douhet. What you see today: the guard of honour and the two braziers, permanently attended.
6. 1922 — with the rise of Fascism the Vittoriano becomes the setting for the regime's military parades. Structural impact: the monument is annexed to a politics it was not built for, and gains Fascist symbols. What you see today: nothing — which is the point of the next entry.
7. 1946 — with the founding of the Italian Republic the monument is stripped of all its Fascist symbols. Structural impact: it resumes its original function as a secular temple to the nation and its people. What you see today: a deliberately cleaned building; the absences are as deliberate as the sculpture.
8. 2007 — a lift is added, giving visitors access to the roof. Structural impact: the top of the monument becomes reachable without stairs for the first time. What you see today: the two panoramic glass lifts and the Panoramic Terrace, which is the ticketed part of the visit and the reason most people buy a ticket at all.

• Official website
• Wikipedia