Rome; an Eiffel tower

ROME Everyone expects the buildings of ancient Rome such as the Colosseum to suffer from the corrosive effects of twentieth-century pollution, especially automobile fumes. But it comes as something of a shock to learn that the vast, white Victor Emmanuel Monument--the "wedding cake"--built in 1911, is now also in danger of crumbling.

This huge pile of unweathering marble sits in the vortex of Roman traffic facing the Piazza Venezia, in the middle of the city. The monument was built to honor the memory of the King of Savoy, and it also incorporates the Tomb of Italy's Unknown Soldier. Recently the monument's flanks have been covered by tarpaulins, and a piece of gesso fell off the frieze of the sweeping central colonnade onto the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier itself. Fissures have appeared in the marble blocks of the surface; experts fear that the great pile is actually shifting its foundations. Municipal authorities have no special funds to undertake what looks like a long, complicated, and costly job of restoration, but they cheerfully count on the support of the public. "The people will be our sponsors," says one official. "After all, was the Eiffel Tower ever allowed to fall down?"

COPYRIGHT 1986 National Review, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning