Italy has kept its fascist monuments and buildings. The reasons are complex

Feb 26, 2023 503

BY: Sylvia Poggioli

Cinema Troisi is an art movie house in central Rome. Its stark, white, minimalist façade contrasts with the ornate 19th-century buildings nearby. It was built in the 1930s as the headquarters of the Fascist Youth Organization — the GIL. But there is no plaque explaining its link to the dictatorship. Italian rap music plays in the background as young people mill around the lobby café.

They seem indifferent to the building's fascist origins, including 20-year-old Christian Carere, who works here. "It's evolution," he says. "A building is born as a structure. But inside, its purpose can change. For example, first it's a butcher shop and two years later it becomes a discotheque." Across town, a fascist-era sports center has become a skate-boarder's paradise.

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SOURCE: https://www.npr.org

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