By www.romephotofuntours.com - Giulio D’Ercole . I took this shot in 2013, when Rome was beautifully, ad unusually, covered by a thick layer of snow. The view point is the one on Viale della Trinita’ dei Monti, the gorgeous road that goes from above the Spanish steps towards Villa Borghese. At the center of the photo, in the distance, towers the Altare della Patria (the Altar of the Fatherland), also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II ("National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II") or Il Vittoriano, a monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The eclectic structure was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885. Established Italian sculptors, such as Leonardo Bistolfi and Angelo Zanelli, made its sculptures nationwide. [1] It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925. The Vittoriano features stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, an equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height reaches 81 m (266 ft). It has a total area of 17,000 square metres. The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Unification. In 2007, a panoramic lift was added to the structure, allowing visitors to ride up to the roof for 360-degree views of Rome.
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