When I was a kid I suspected that this massive structure on the top of “Monte Burrone” (Mount Ravine) was a money bin of sorts, like the one where Scrooge McDuck stored his dollars.
The huge “cube” was part of the mausoleum of Costanzo Ciano, the powerful local Fascist leader whose son Galeazzo married Edda, the daughter of Mussolini.
It was practically intended as a giant plinth for a 12 meter statue honoring him as naval commander and as the base for a 50 meter tall fasces-shaped light.
The war and the fall of the Fascist regime stopped the works, then the Germans blew up the light. The building and the surrounding area, not far from Montenero, had been abandoned since.
Part of the half-finished statue still lies in a cave on the island of Santo Stefano, in the Maddalena archipelago of northern Sardinia.(Pictures of the project and of the statue from: Mausoleo di Costanzo Ciano: un pezzo di storia tra i rifiuti)
Thank you for all of these images and such an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteShrinking life to its real, its important size.
ReplyDeletePlease have a good new week.
daily athens
Dictators and their minions do have some of the biggest egos ever.
ReplyDeleteThat thing is massive and really stands out on the hill. I would have thought it was a fort, but I think I like your childhood interpretation better. :)
Super post...I knew nothing of this (which is not surprising) so it was great fun to see your photos and read the story behind them.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that fascists and other totalitarian types love to memorialize themselves with statues and other structures? They must be very insecure about their place in history (which they should be!)
Amazing photos and history.
ReplyDeleteWow, incredible! They have something in common with dictators from our part of the world - the bigger statue, the better!
ReplyDeleteGreat post VP!
I had forgotten about Ciano until now.
ReplyDeletePunirei con anni di prigione i writers che imbrattano e danneggiano i monumenti, di qualsiasi fazione politica essi fossero
ReplyDeleteThis whole thing is so bizarre!
ReplyDeleteI see your vivid imagination started already in childhood. :)
Thanks one more time for the history lesson.
ReplyDeleteI like so much your words about the mausoleum, I mean when you were a kid, it's so adorable, I think I would think in the same way! :)
Hugs
Léia
Very nice photo and excellent blog, I like very much.
ReplyDeletePleace also all looking fotoblog Teuvo images.
www.ttvehkalahti.blogspot.com
and your comments pleace
Thank you
Teuvo
FINLAND
so interesting!
ReplyDeleteSo very, very weird. A strange group of egos. Looks better where it sits, now.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I don't know too much about that era. I suppose only what I learn in school and how accurate is that. Thank you. MB
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting, VP! Haven't heard of it before. And the money bin made me smile! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove that shot from far away, you can really tell how huge it is! I guess nobody wants to finish it ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love the first part of the story, where you thought it was a money bin. Hee!
ReplyDeleteA very interesting story though. I think it's good the statue never went up. Who wants to remember the bad times?
The names don't ring a bell, but the story has unfolded many times all over the world. There seems to be some truth to the thought that the more brutal the dictator, the larger the memorial they put up. That graffiti tells me no one much cares about the man now. I like to hear you tell the history, VP. Thanks.
ReplyDelete[I don't want you to miss this: http://animalartalongtheway.blogspot.com/2010/08/sea-lion-and-salmon-bench-tacoma.html] :-)