It stands at the centre of Palazzo Venezia, and at the centre of the  Rome. The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or "Il Vittoriano" is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. Love it or hate it, The Vittoriano is one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the city. 

At its centre is Italy’s eternal flame of the unknown solider, watched twenty-four hours a day by an honour guard. It also two of Rome’s most important exhibition spaces, one being the permanent museum of the Risorgimento (the movement which unified Italy) and the other being a temporary exhibition space for some of the most important shows to come into the nation. From it’s higher levels it, perhaps,  boasts the best view of the city, standing 70 m (230 ft) high and 135 m (443 ft) wide. 

Beneath its Corinthian columns there are some excellent mosaic work and at its centre is a statue of Vittorio Emanuele II (Victor Emanuele II). It is also covered in some brilliant sculptural work. 

Still, nearly one hundred years after it’s inauguration, it remains controversial. It’s imposing style has lead to it being referred to as the typewriter, the wedding cake, the false teeth, the zuppa inglese, as well as many other unkind terms. Also built from tooth white marble from Brescia, it does not match the hues and tones of the city. More disturbing, it is build directly on top of important parts of the Roman Forum and it’s construction lead to untold archaeological damage to the area. 

Still in a city dominated by its past, the Vittoriano remains an important symbol for the birth of the modern Italian nation.