Vittoriano
Rome's most theatrical monument, with rooftop views that earn the climb.
The Vittoriano — officially the Altare della Patria, or Altar of the Fatherland — is the colossal white marble monument dominating Piazza Venezia at the heart of Rome. Built between 1885 and 1935 to honor Italy's first king, Vittorio Emanuele II, and the unification of the Italian state, it was controversial from the start: an entire medieval hilltop neighborhood was demolished to make way for it, and Romans have never quite forgiven it. They call it the 'wedding cake' or the 'typewriter,' and for decades it was fashionably dismissed. But the mockery has softened into something closer to grudging affection, and visitors almost universally love it.
Inside, the monument houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — guarded around the clock and genuinely moving — along with the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento, which tells the story of Italian unification through documents, paintings, and artifacts. The real draws, though, are the views. The monument is free to enter and free to climb on foot up through the terraces and colonnades. At the very top, a paid glass elevator — the Ascensore Panoramico — whisks you to the roof for a 360-degree panorama over Rome that is, without exaggeration, one of the finest urban views in Europe. The Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, St. Peter's dome: it's all there, spread out like a map of Western civilization.
Because most tourists either don't realize you can go to the top or assume the elevator is overpriced and skip it, the upper terrace is often surprisingly uncrowded even when the piazza below is heaving. The elevator costs a few euros and is absolutely worth it. Come in the late afternoon when the light softens over the rooftops, stay until the city starts to glow, and you'll understand why Romans have come around on the old typewriter.
