The Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Franciscan Order, and is located in Assisi, Italy, the city where St. Francis was born and died. The basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. The basilica, which was begun in 1228, is built into the side of a hill and comprises two churches known as the Upper Church and the Lower Church, and a crypt where the remains of the saint are interred. On the morning of September 26, 1997, two earthquakes hit that region of Italy in rapid succession, registering 5.5 and 6.1 respectively on the Richter Scale. There was widespread devastation and many ancient buildings were destroyed or damaged. The church was closed for two years for restoration.
The Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), also known as the Victor Emmanuel Monument, is a controversial monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. It occupies a site in Rome between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The eclectic structure was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885 and completed in 1925. The monument was controversial since its construction destroyed a large area of the Capitoline Hill and a medieval neighborhood, and is often regarded as pompous and too large. The monument is also glaringly white, making it highly conspicuous amidst the generally brownish buildings surrounding it, and its stacked, crowded nature has lent it several nicknames, such as "the wedding cake"and "the typewriter."
