The Victor Emmanuel 2 Monument

The Victor Emmanuel 2 National Monument, also known as Alter of Fatherland, is a large national monument built between 1885 and 1935 to honour Victor Emmanuel 2, the first king of a unified Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. From an architectural perspective, it was conceived as a modern forum.  It also preserves the Altar of the Fatherland, first an altar of the goddess Rome, then also a shrine of the Italian Unknown Soldier. The existing design of the Piazza del Campid oglio and the surrounding palazzi was created by Renaissance artist and architect Michael Angelo Buonarroti in 1536–1546. The three remodelled palazzi enclose a harmonious trapezoidal space, approached by the ramped staircase called the cordonat or Michael Angelo Stairs.