Footsteps of WWII · Italy
Fosse Ardeatine Mausoleum, Rome
Memorial · 24 Mar 1944
The story
On 23 March 1944 Communist-led GAP partisans bombed a column of the 11th Company, 3rd Battalion, SS Police Regiment 'Bozen' in Via Rasella; 33 policemen eventually died. Hitler authorised a reprisal of ten Italians for each German killed. Herbert Kappler, head of the security police in Rome, drew up the list, using prisoners, Jews and others; Erich Priebke and Karl Hass led the killing squads. On 24 March 335 men and boys, five more than ordered, were shot in disused quarries on the Via Ardeatina, and the tunnels were blown to hide the bodies. The mausoleum, the result of a national competition, was inaugurated on 24 March 1949.
What to look for
You enter through a gate with bronze sculpture, then walk through the tunnels where the shooting took place. The mausoleum is a vast, low concrete slab over 335 identical tombs, plus one for all Italy's fallen of the liberation war. A small museum explains the events.
Plan your visit
Mon–Fri 8:15–15:15, Sat–Sun 8:15–16:45. Entry has traditionally been free. Guided visits through ANFIM (info@anfim.org). Via Ardeatina 174, near the Appian Way catacombs. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Museum of the Liberation of Rome (Via Tasso) · 3 km
- Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno · 45 km
- Anzio Beachhead Museum (Museo dello Sbarco) · 47 km
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Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
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