Il Risorgimento - Italian Unification

Yesterday I spent the morning doing errands like grocery shopping and cleaning the bathroom. There is a nearby morning market with stall similar to what one might find at Pike Place Market in Seattle. However, the building is modern and it is indoors so is much less picturesque. Nonetheless, there are lots of vegetables to choose from and a macelleria (meat market) that I really like because it has a variety of prepared things such as stuffed peppers, Mexican chicken, breaded cutlets, etc. A regular, small grocery store is across the street so it is easy to get all the shopping done in one general location. On my way back I picked up sushi for lunch and also stopped for fresh bread at a bakery down the street.


After lunch (sushi for me and a mortadella panino for Dom), we headed off to the Scuderie del Quirinale. The Quirinale was once a papal palace, then the King of Italy’s Rome residence and now it is the Italian President’s home. The Scuderie is across the piazza from the palace and was once the stables and carriage house. It has been refurbished as a special exhibit hall although it still is a garage on the lower levels.

The current exhibit is I pittori del Risorgimento (Pictures of the Resurgance). Il Risorgimento is the name given to the Italian unification movement. The pictures shown were wonderful and Dom and I both agree that the accompanying descriptions of the various phases of unification were excellent. For the first time I feel I really understand the overall process.

Italian unification was a messy and drawn out. The first concrete attempt at unifying the peninsula occurred in 1849. Republics were established in Milan, Venice and Rome. However, they were short lived and the (mostly) foreign rulers soon quashed them.

In 1859 the daring of Guiseppe Garibaldi and the political acumen of Camillo di Cavour (Prime Minister of Piedmont) brought about nearly complete unification within 18 months. Garibaldi and his 1,000 soldiers sailed from Genoa to Sicily in 1860 and within months had brought Sicily and Southern Italy (the Kingdom of Naples) under the rule of King Victor Emmanuel II.

There was a third phase to the unification and that was the battle to free Venice from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1866 and the incorporation of the Papal States and Rome into the country. Most of the Papal States became part of Italy in 1860 but the Pope held out in Rome for another 10 years. At that time Rome became the capital of Italy.

If you want to learn more about Il Risorgimento check out this article, Uniting Italy, in Wanted in Rome, a local English language publication.

Because 2010 is the 150th anniversary of unification (1860 is considered the official year is “happened”) there are many exhibits related to Il Risorgimento at museums throughout Rome. We have enjoyed all those we have seen and there is one more we plan to view before we leave Rome.

It rained on our way to the Scuderie but when upon exiting the exhibit we found ourselves in a modern glass stairwell with a fabulous view across Rome. The rain had cleared the air out and it was shaping up to be a lovely sunset. 

View from Scuderie del Quirinale - double click to enlarge



Piazza del Quirinale

 

Looks like they packed for "sunny Italy"