Mussolini/WWII tours in Rome
Nov 6th, 2004, 09:47 AM
#1
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Mussolini/WWII tours in Rome
Hi all,
I know this will (even more) solidify my status as a very morbid person in the eyes of some here, but, has anyone gone on any tour which has some aspects of WWII on it? I did a Third Reich walking tour with some friends in Munich a few years ago and was utterly fascinated.
I was wondering if there is anything even remotely like that in Rome.
thanks
I know this will (even more) solidify my status as a very morbid person in the eyes of some here, but, has anyone gone on any tour which has some aspects of WWII on it? I did a Third Reich walking tour with some friends in Munich a few years ago and was utterly fascinated.
I was wondering if there is anything even remotely like that in Rome.
thanks
Nov 6th, 2004, 01:12 PM
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You could visit the Fosse Ardeatine where 335 Romans in March 1944, were murdered by the Nazis in retaliations for the loss of 33 germans soldiers, killed by a bomb that exploded in Via Rasella.
At first Hitler wanted to deport the Romans populations and destroy the city, but luckily he changed his mind..
For every Germans soldier murdered by the partisans, 10 Romans chosen at random will die..
Or you could walk in the Jewish Ghetto..
At first Hitler wanted to deport the Romans populations and destroy the city, but luckily he changed his mind..
For every Germans soldier murdered by the partisans, 10 Romans chosen at random will die..
Or you could walk in the Jewish Ghetto..
Nov 6th, 2004, 02:01 PM
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Entombed Vestal Virgins and now Fasist dictators..my..my 
.
I've never come across any Mussolini or Rome WWII tours, it would have been something I'd be interested in.
I'm sure you've seen the newsreels of him ranting and raving from his balcony to the crowds below.
That's the Palazzo di Venezia where he lived as dictator. You'll pass thru the Piazza Venezia doing your visit for sure. Here is what it looked like then (the balcony is on the right) http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/dof/...so/balcony.jpg
And today
www.activitaly.it/monument/imago/palavenezia.jpg
Also Mussolini used to keep his office light on all night so the people passing in the streets thought he was hard at work, he was nicknamed 'The Sleepless One'. Regards, Walter
.I've never come across any Mussolini or Rome WWII tours, it would have been something I'd be interested in.
I'm sure you've seen the newsreels of him ranting and raving from his balcony to the crowds below.
That's the Palazzo di Venezia where he lived as dictator. You'll pass thru the Piazza Venezia doing your visit for sure. Here is what it looked like then (the balcony is on the right) http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/dof/...so/balcony.jpg
And today
www.activitaly.it/monument/imago/palavenezia.jpg
Also Mussolini used to keep his office light on all night so the people passing in the streets thought he was hard at work, he was nicknamed 'The Sleepless One'. Regards, Walter
Nov 8th, 2004, 04:58 AM
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FG - Have you thought of arranging a tour through a company like Rome Insight - which does private, personalized itineraries to suite your interest?
http://www.romeinsight.com
Hope this helps ...
Steve
http://www.romeinsight.com
Hope this helps ...
Steve
Nov 8th, 2004, 05:15 AM
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I'm sure someone at Scala Reale would love to do a tour for you. I'd be interested as well. If you find something interesting,let me know,as I'll be in Rome for the month of February and am trying to do lots of things I haven't gotten around to on my other trips!
Nov 8th, 2004, 07:21 AM
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The Fosse Ardeatine outrage was the subject of a pretty good movie made in the early 1970's, with Marcello Mastroianni as a priest who helps the partisans and Richard Burton as the intellectual and sympathetic German SS Commander who nevertheless ends up shooting Mastroianni in the head in the Caves (at the end of the movies, of course).
Nov 8th, 2004, 10:58 AM
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I havent' seen the movie GAC..
Do you remember the title by any chance?
I always loved to watch Marcello films..He was a natural actor that could play anything..I remember a funny one with Him and Sofia loren..It was hysterical..I laughed so much..
Do you remember the title by any chance?
I always loved to watch Marcello films..He was a natural actor that could play anything..I remember a funny one with Him and Sofia loren..It was hysterical..I laughed so much..
Nov 9th, 2004, 10:20 AM
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Since you'll have a tour guide, you may not need this information, but here's a little more.
The former SS headquarters and detention facility on Via Tasso is now a museum of liberation. It's near the Manzoni Metro stop and S. Giovanni Laterano.
The Regina Coeli prison, where many antifascists were imprisoned, including Antonio Gramsci and Leone Ginzburg is still a prison, and a notoriously overcrowded and rundown one at that. It's at the top of via della Lungara, just north of Trastevere.
For some fascist-style architecture built as part of Mussolini's grand plans, you could visit EUR to the south or the Foro Italico complex to the north. Near the Foro Italico, on the river, is an obelisk erected to glorify Il Duce, which still has its inscription, because it was too hard to eradicate it.
In general, you will not see the attention given to the fascist era that you see somewhere like Munich. For many political and other reasons, not least of which is that Italy declared its separate peace with the Allies and was invaded by the Nazis, that era has not been confronted to anything like the extent that the Nazi past has in Germany.
The former SS headquarters and detention facility on Via Tasso is now a museum of liberation. It's near the Manzoni Metro stop and S. Giovanni Laterano.
The Regina Coeli prison, where many antifascists were imprisoned, including Antonio Gramsci and Leone Ginzburg is still a prison, and a notoriously overcrowded and rundown one at that. It's at the top of via della Lungara, just north of Trastevere.
For some fascist-style architecture built as part of Mussolini's grand plans, you could visit EUR to the south or the Foro Italico complex to the north. Near the Foro Italico, on the river, is an obelisk erected to glorify Il Duce, which still has its inscription, because it was too hard to eradicate it.
In general, you will not see the attention given to the fascist era that you see somewhere like Munich. For many political and other reasons, not least of which is that Italy declared its separate peace with the Allies and was invaded by the Nazis, that era has not been confronted to anything like the extent that the Nazi past has in Germany.
