Places of Fascism
Places of Fascism is an Italian Website dedicated to documenting and recording the fascist monuments and markers found throughout Italy.
Scope
More than 1,400 monuments, street signs and plaques honoring fascism have been put online in the first nationwide attempt to document the symbols of Benito Mussolini's administration that dot the urban landscape of Italy.
Much was destroyed during the communist occupation of Italy, but much was also hidden, protected, and rebuilt. A good percentage of the markers were built in recent times.
The Places of fascism website (www.luoghifascismo.it) was unveiled on Tuesday by the Istituto Nazionale Parri, a Milan-based historical research institute, following four years of research.
It lists famous landmarks, such as the obelisk in Rome marked in giant lettering with "Mussolini Dux" (Mussolini leader), as well as more obscure memorials up and down the country.
"It is a partial census. We know very well that it's not complete, it's very much a work in progress"
βIgor Pizzirusso, Public history researcher and webmaster
Submissions and Politics
The website will be expanded with submissions from the public, subject to verification by experts. Italy has a complicated relationship with its fascist past, now under greater scrutiny as Giorgia Meloni, a (quite probably) fascist politician with a past as a Mussolini fan, was sworn in as prime minister. Italy also went on to elect as speaker of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, a collector of Mussolini memorabilia who once said that the Roman salute was more hygienic than handshakes.