The bomb shelter in Rome at the EUR was the third refuge that Benito Mussolini built under Rome, after the first at his private home in Villa Torlonia, and the second at his studio in Piazza Venezia.
This Mussolini bunker however, was not built exclusively for the Duce, but was constructed under the Palazzo degli Uffici, or offices of the Esposizione Universale (EUR), for the managers of this project.
This shelter is much smaller than the other two, such that it provides for a fascinating and surprising exhibition from the Galleria Ca’ D’Oro.
The Mussolini shelter, converted to an art gallery, is showing the works of Alfredo Rapetti, Fabiana Roscioli and Riccardo Dalla Chiesa from March 25 to April 10, in an exhibition that contrasts with the shelter’s purpose and its layout of narrow spaces, cement pillars and thick walls.
Alfredo Rapetti has especially experimented with a mixed media of writing and painting.
The exhibition is open from 4pm to 7pm daily.