More than 1,400 fascist monuments in Italy, new map | Abroad

While Germany did everything in its power after World War II to systematically remove references to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, Mussolini’s 21-year dictatorship in Italy still leaves visible traces to this day.

The places were united on the website ‘Fascist places’ (www.luoghifascismo.it), which was presented on Tuesday by the Istituto Nazionale Parri, a research institute in Milan that spent four years researching the project.

The map provides an overview of well-known monuments, such as the obelisk in Rome on which ‘Mussolini Dux’ (leader Mussolini, ed.) is written in large letters, and lesser-known memorial sites throughout the country.

“It is a partial count. We know very well that it is not complete. It is definitely a work in progress,” says Igor Pizzirusso, the site’s webmaster and historical researcher.

The website will be expanded to include submissions from the public, which will be verified by experts, Pizzirusso said. After the Italian newspaper La Repubblica devoted an article to the website on Tuesday, a dozen new suggestions have already been received.

Italy’s fascist past has come back into the spotlight recently, as Giorgia Meloni – a far-right politician who was a fan of Mussolini as a teenager – was sworn in as prime minister last month.

Meloni, who won the election on September 25, claims that she and her Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party are supporters of conservatism. In August she stated that “Italy right has consigned fascism to history for decades”.

Despite this, the party and its right-wing allies elected Ignazio La Russa as president of the Senate in October. The man is a collector of Mussolini memorabilia and once said that the fascist one-armed salute was more hygienic than a handshake.