Piazzale Loreto

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The Piazzale Loreto is a central place in Milan at the end of Corso Buenos Aires , a main road. The square went down in history as a place of public display of those executed under fascism.

origin

The name Loreto is also related to the municipality that surrounds the square. Loreto is part of the 2nd district of Milan, the Zona 2 . The name "Loreto" is derived from an old sanctuary that used to be seen there and that was dedicated to "Our Lady of Loreto ", a place of pilgrimage in the province of Ancona .

history

Piazzale Loreto was the site of one of the most famous events in modern Italian history, namely the public display of Benito Mussolini's body on April 29, 1945. The day before, Mussolini, his lover Clara Petacci and several other high-ranking fascists were captured by partisans and in was shot near Lake Como . Their bodies were taken to Milan and hung upside down on the roof of an Esso petrol station in Piazzale Loreto. Also on April 29, 1945, Achille Starace was brought to the square to show him Mussolini's body. Shortly afterwards, after a short trial, he was shot. Starace's body was spontaneously hung up next to Mussolini. The bodies were photographed when a crowd took out their anger on them.

In the same place eight months earlier, fascist troops, on German orders, exhibited the bodies of fifteen civilians (the so-called “martyrs of Piazzale Loreto”) in retaliation for partisan attacks. After the end of fascism in Italy, the square was briefly renamed to Piazza Quindici Martiri (Square of the Fifteen Martyrs) in honor of the murdered fifteen civilians.

connections

Under the square is the Loreto station of the Metropolitana di Milano , where you can change from the M1 (red line) to the M2 (green line). A proposal by the City Councilor for Culture Stephen Zecchi from May 2005 to rename the square “Piazza della Concordia” did not find a majority. The gas station there hasn't existed for a long time. Roughly in place of the previous gas station, there is now a large building with a McDonald’s branch on the ground floor.

Web links

Commons : Piazzale Loreto  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The corpses of Mussolini, his mistress Claretta Petacci, and his henchmen are hanged in Piazzale Loreto in Milan on public display, April 29, 1945
  2. Mussolini's friend Clara Petacci. Faithful to the end. Mirror April 27, 2015
  3. Un hamburger in Piazzale Loreto

Coordinates: 45 ° 29 '10.4 "  N , 9 ° 13' 0.4"  E