Marconi obelisk, Modern obelisk in EUR district, Rome, Italy.
The Marconi Obelisk is a truncated-pyramid monument of reinforced concrete clad in 92 slabs of Carrara marble, standing in the centre of Piazza Guglielmo Marconi along Via Cristoforo Colombo in Rome's EUR district. Its four rows of high reliefs were carved by Arturo Dazzi.
Work on the monument began in 1939 as part of the preparations for a World's Fair planned for 1942, which never took place due to the war. The project was left unfinished for years and completed in 1959 in time for the Rome Olympics.
The obelisk is named after Guglielmo Marconi, the physicist, inventor and senator who died in 1937, two years before the commission. Its high reliefs, carved in four rows on Carrara marble, were executed by the sculptor Arturo Dazzi, who began them in 1939 and refused in 1953 to hide the unfinished concrete core behind temporary plaster panels.
The monument is a short walk from the EUR Marconi stop on Metro Line B, making it easy to reach by public transport. The surrounding square is flat and open, so you can walk around it freely without any barriers.
Guglielmo Marconi died in 1937, two years before work on the monument began, so he never knew it would be built. The project was part of a plan to create an entirely new district from scratch on the southern edge of the city.
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