Walking Tours

Fascist Rome: the urban planning of Mussolini

Ambitious building projects from the 1920s to the 1940s are still visible around the city, and would have been even more widespread had the Fascist regime lasted longer.

Fascist architecture appears here and there in the historical center of Rome, but it is most present south of the center in the Mussolini-conceived EUR district, and at the Foro Italico sports complex north of the city.

This guided visit will take you to the buildings and urban spaces that best exemplify how architecture could transmit the ideology of Fascism. Many of these Mussolini-era structures were directly inspired by imperial Roman art and architecture, but modified (some more convincing than others) to be colder, more sterile, more totalitarian.

For anyone with an interest in Rome's modern period or in comparative architecture, this unique tour is guaranteed to fascinate.

Sights visited: EUR (the Square Colosseum, Via Cristoforo Colombo, other buildings), Foro Italico (Stadio dei Marmi, Obelisk, mosaics), Piazza Augusto Imperatore, Piazza Venezia, Via dei Fori Imperiali.