Mussolini balcony to be reopened after decades of neglect
A balcony in Rome from which Mussolini gave rabble-rousing speeches to his Black Shirt supporters and declared war on Britain in 1940 is to be reopened to the public after decades of neglect.
Some of the most famous images of Il Duce were taken as he harangued the crowds from the stone balustrade, which overlooks Piazza Venezia, Rome’s answer to Trafalgar Square.
It has been shuttered for decades, partly out of embarrassment for its historical connotations and because of concerns that it would become a place of pilgrimage for modern-day fascists.
The entrance to the balcony was cloaked in heavy black curtains and the balustrade itself crowded with flagpoles and a pair of large air conditioning units.
“It was in a state of abandonment and crammed with various bits of apparatus, and it could no longer be left like that,” said Francesco Giro, a cultural heritage official from Rome city council.
The fact that the balcony was so closely associated with Mussolini had given it notoriety but that had now begun to fade, he said....
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Some of the most famous images of Il Duce were taken as he harangued the crowds from the stone balustrade, which overlooks Piazza Venezia, Rome’s answer to Trafalgar Square.
It has been shuttered for decades, partly out of embarrassment for its historical connotations and because of concerns that it would become a place of pilgrimage for modern-day fascists.
The entrance to the balcony was cloaked in heavy black curtains and the balustrade itself crowded with flagpoles and a pair of large air conditioning units.
“It was in a state of abandonment and crammed with various bits of apparatus, and it could no longer be left like that,” said Francesco Giro, a cultural heritage official from Rome city council.
The fact that the balcony was so closely associated with Mussolini had given it notoriety but that had now begun to fade, he said....