![The origins](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/vittoriano_0008_altarepatria1.jpg?itok=YwB0Evli)
The decorative programme in the original project by Giuseppe Sacconi
![The idea of the Altar of the Fatherland](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/vittoriano_0007_altarepatria2.jpg?itok=LY1BoTtu)
Giuseppe Sacconi plans to transform the central area into a large secular altar dedicated to the nation and its values
![The 1908 competition](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/Il%20concorso%20del%201908.jpg?itok=joz_h84W)
Amid many uncertainties, the decoration of the future Altar of the Fatherland gets underway
![The victory of Angelo Zanelli](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/La%20vittoria%20di%20Angelo%20Zanelli.jpg?itok=Cfw36v8Y)
Thanks to a plebiscite, a young artist from Brescia managed to beat the other twenty-five far more well-known colleagues
![A long gestation](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/anteprima_gestazione.jpg?itok=AFDxPewc)
After achieving victory, Zanelli took over fourteen years to complete the decoration of the Altar of the Fatherland
![The invention of the Unknown Soldier](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/attoV-anteprima.jpeg?itok=W9aKx_4P)
The Altar of the Fatherland houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
![The burial ceremony of the Unknown Soldier](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/anteprima_cerimoniatumultazione.jpg?itok=4YtQFBaZ)
The Altar of the Fatherland becomes the sepulchral monument of the Nation
![The Altar of the Fatherland in the Fascist era and the arrangement of Armando Brasini](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/altare%20della%20Patria%20in%20eta%CC%80%20fascista%20e%20la%20sistemazione%20di%20Armando%20Brasini.jpg?itok=wKaA0UTu)
A cornerstone of the regime's propaganda, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier takes on a double significance, both secular and religious
![The Altar of the Fatherland today, the legacy of a](https://vive.cultura.gov.it/_cms/sites/default/files/styles/img_blocco_o/public/scheda/mattarella_anteprima.jpeg?itok=7y1Otz7f)
The Monument’s post-war misfortune and its recovery thanks to the Presidency of the Republic