The Rome Index
Piazzale Garibaldi & the equestrian statue
The hero of Italian unification on horseback — and what he means to Rome.
Who Garibaldi was
Giuseppe Garibaldi led the military campaign that unified Italy, making Rome the capital in 1870 after centuries of papal rule. His equestrian statue on the Gianicolo is one of the few monuments in Rome that isn't ancient or Baroque — it feels different because it is: a 19th-century hero in a city of emperors and popes.
Why it's here
The Gianicolo was the site of one of the most dramatic episodes in the Risorgimento — the 1849 siege of the Roman Republic by French troops, which Garibaldi's men defended unsuccessfully but heroically. The hill is essentially his monument.
Nearby
The smaller statue of Anita Garibaldi, his Brazilian wife who fought alongside him, stands nearby on the hill — a far less typical figure to find commemorated in Rome of any era.
A monument built by public subscription
Unlike many of Rome's grand monuments commissioned by wealthy patrons, funds for the Garibaldi monument were raised substantially through public subscription across newly unified Italy.
The best time for the view
Because the terrace faces east, morning light produces a particularly striking view with the sun rising behind St Peter's dome — different from the more commonly photographed sunset from the Gianicolo.
