We value this cultural link to the ancient world very highly, which is why organisations such as UNESCO (The United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation) exist. UNESCO protects cultural heritage, with one of its main aims being to prevent cultural atrocities by preserving historical buildings and monuments. However, during the early stages of UNESCO’s development, there is one example of both the protection and destruction of cultural heritage that was over looked; the architectural movements of fascist Italy under the control of Benito Mussolini. Mussolini, credited as one of the creators of fascism, based a lot of his political movements around those of both Julius Caesar and Augustus. One of the best examples of this is his March on Rome, likening it to Caesar’s march from Gaul over the Rubicon. As a result of the march, Mussolini was then in a position to state his aims for the future of Rome. The underlying theme to all of the movements of this fascist government was to quite simply regain the once great Roman Empire, seen as Italy’s true heritage. Alongside this, Mussolini wanted to not only re-enforce the roman empire but to bring Rome back to the culturally and architecturally superior age of Augustus;
Within five years, Rome must appear wonderful to the whole world, immense and powerful as she was in the days of the first empire of Augustus. The approaches to the Theatre of Marcellus, the Campidoglio and the Pantheon must be cleared of everything that has grown up around them during the centuries of decadence.
Mussolini’s speech to the Roman City Council in 1925
Mussolini attempted to recreate Augustan Rome into a fascist context. In order to do this, he restored buildings from that time period but with fascism carefully intertwined with everything he did, again further linking himself to the Emperor and selling the image of building a better, fascist Rome, similar to what Augustus was praised for during his reign. This is apparent in the 1938 construction, the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro, or the ‘Square Collosseum’, thought of as one of the best examples of fascist architecture from that period. The destroying anything from ‘the centuries of decadence’ part of the above speech is a reference to Mussolini’s work in 1938 on the Mausoleum of Augustus. Here, mainly for propagandistic reasons he attempted to purge the surrounding areas of anything constructed after Augustus, such as churches from the early Christian period and Papal government railway stations and factories. Alongside this, the construction of a parade route called the Via dell’ impero (now known as the Via dei Fori Imperali) to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the march on Rome, the excavations destroyed five thousand housing units, with Mussolini breaking the first ground declaring ‘Let the pick-axe speak!’. These two examples of having little regard for any history other than ‘the future fascist Rome’ displays in my opinion one of the greatest losses of cultural heritage.Mussolini had his own ideas about cultural preservation, interestingly promoting the destruction of cultural heritage as restoration. Whilst, this is an extreme example, the restoration part of his work could be seen as quite beneficial, as it has helped shape Rome today. However with so many of post-Augustan constructions destroyed, the negatives out-weigh the positives.
References:
2. http://honorsaharchive.blogspot.com/2007/03/mussolini-propaganda-and-fascist.html accessed on the 18th of November 2011
3. Email concerning Mussolini from Claire Hearn received on the 16th of November 2011
4. Donatello among the Blackshirts: History and Modernity in the Visual Culture of Fascist Italy by Claudia Lazzaro and Roger J Crum, published by Cornell University Press, New York in 2005.
Images:
2. Email concerning Mussolini from Claire Hearn received on the 16th of November 2011
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