It features stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, an equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel II, and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas.

On its summit is a majestic portico characterized by a long colonnade and two imposing propylaea, one dedicated to the "unity of the homeland", and the other to the "freedom of the citizens", concepts metaphorically linked to the figure of Victor Emmanuel II.

[3][8] One of the architecturally predominant elements of the Vittoriano are the external staircases, which constitute in the complex 243 steps, and the portico on the top of the monument, which is inserted between two lateral propylaea.

[8] The monument, as a whole, appears as a sort of marble covering on the northern slope of the Capitoline Hill:[3] it was therefore thought of as a place where it is possible to make an uninterrupted patriotic walk (the path does not in fact have an architectural end, given that the entrances to the highest part are two, one for each propylaeum) among the works present, which almost all have allegorical meanings linked to the history of Italy.

[12] Above all, for the realization of the Vittoriano, Giuseppe Sacconi took inspiration from the Neoclassical architecture—the reborn heir of the classical Greek and Roman architecture, on which Italic elements were grafted and eclectic influences added.

[8] After the death of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy on 9 January 1878, many initiatives were destined to raise a permanent monument that celebrated the first king of a united Italy, creator of the process of unification and liberation from foreign domination, which is indicated by historiography as "Father of the Fatherland" also due to the political work of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Sardinia Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, and to the military contribution of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

[8] The Vittoriano was conceived as a vast and modern forum[9] open to citizens, on a sort of elevated square in the historic centre of Rome organized as an agora on three levels connected by tiers, with conspicuous spaces reserved for strolling visitors.

[3] The place chosen was in the heart of the historic centre of Rome and was therefore occupied by ancient buildings arranged according to urban planning that dated back to the Middle Ages.

[14] The general objective was also to make Rome a modern European capital that rivaled Berlin, Vienna, London and Paris[12] overcoming the centuries-old pontifical town planning.

[12] In this context, the Vittoriano would have been the equivalent of the Brandenburg Gate of Berlin, the Admiralty Arch of London and the Opéra Garnier of Paris; these buildings are all united by a monumental and classical aspect that metaphorically communicates pride and the power of the nation that erected them.

[15] Established Italian sculptors, such as Leonardo Bistolfi, Manfredo Manfredi, Giulio Monteverde, Francesco Jerace, Augusto Rivalta, Lodovico Pogliaghi, Pietro Canonica, Ettore Ximenes, Adolfo Apolloni, Mario Rutelli and Angelo Zanelli, made its sculptures nationwide.

Construction continued throughout the first half of the 20th century; in 1921 the body of the Italian Unknown Soldier was placed in the crypt under the statue of the goddess Roma, and in 1935 the monument was fully completed amidst the inauguration of the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento Italiano.

[8] The Vittoriano was thus consecrated to a wide symbolic value representing a lay temple metaphorically dedicated to a free and united Italy—celebrating by virtue the burial of the Unknown Soldier (the sacrifice for the homeland and for the connected ideals).

[3] The monument holds the Tomb of the Italian Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, built under the statue of goddess Roma after World War I following an idea of General Giulio Douhet.

[8] On the terrace of the Altar of the Fatherland are also the Botticino marble sculptural groups that symbolize the moral values of the Italians, or the ideal principles that make the nation firm.

[10] The four groups have a height of 6 m (20 ft) and are to the right and left of the entrance to the terrace of the Altar of the Fatherland (two on each side), sideways to the statues of The Thought and of The Action and in correspondence of the fountains of two seas, along the parapets that overlook Piazza Venezia.

[22] Both reach a pronaos where two large doors open (one on each side, both positioned symmetrically and laterally to the Unknown Soldier, and each in correspondence with one of the two propylaea) that lead to the interior spaces of the Vittoriano.

[8] From the two shelves where the doors open to give access to the interior spaces, two further flights of stairs start that converge, directly behind the Altar of the Fatherland, towards the base of the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II – the latter is on the second large elevated platform, in order of height, of the Vittoriano.

Before reaching the entrances of the propylaea, each of the two staircases is interrupted, creating a small intermediate shelf, which allows access to the terrace of the redeemed cities—the third large and last elevated platform of the Vittoriano—directly behind the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II and immediately below the colonnade of the portico.

[8] At the centre of the row of altars of the redeemed cities, engraved on the stylobate, is a monumental inscription carved on the occasion of the solemn ceremony of the Unknown Soldier (4 November 1921) which contains the text of the Victory Bulletin, an official document written after the Armistice of Villa Giusti with which the general Armando Diaz, supreme commander of the Royal Army, announced, on 4 November 1918, the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the victory of Italy in the First World War.

[26] The 14 sculptural representations of the noble cities are deliberately placed at the base of the equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel II, which metaphorically symbolizes the nature of historical foundations of Italy.

[10] Continuing to climb the stairway beyond the equestrian statue of Victor Emmnauel II, is the most imposing and striking architectonic element—the large portico with Corinthian-style columns, slightly curved, on the top of the monument, and inserted between two temple propylaea called "sommoportico" due to its elevated position.

[30] The two quadrigae, as the Latin inscriptions placed on the pediments of the underlying propylaea expressly declare, symbolize the freedom of the citizens ("Civium Libertati", right) and the unity of the homeland ("Patriae Unitati", left), the two concepts pivots that inform the entire monument and are attributed to the sovereign Victor Emmanuel II.

[10] The implicit message is that Italy, once again a single political group and gained independence, leaving behind the glories of Rome and the pomp of the papal court, is ready to spread a new Italian Renaissance articulated on the moral virtues represented allegorically in the Vittoriano.

[9] The concepts "freedom of citizens" and "unity of the homeland" also summarize the fundamental themes[10] that characterized the beginning and the end of the contribution given by Victor Emmanuel II to the Unification of Italy.

Having ascended the throne for a few months, he published the proclamation of Moncalieri (20 November 1849) which confirmed the survival of the liberal regime even in the repressive period following the wave of revolutions of 1848.

His political work had ended with the capture of Rome (20 September 1870), which became the capital, although the unification of Trentino-Alto Adige and Julian March (annexed only in 1919 after the First World War) were still missing.

[33] The presence of metaphorically depicting statues of the Italian regions is inspired by the allegorical personifications of the Roman provinces, often placed on commemorative monuments during the imperial era.

[37] Access to the Central Museum of the Risorgimento is on the left side of the monument, at the back of the Santa Maria in Ara Coeli along via di San Pietro in Carcere.

[38] The period of Italian history between the end of the 18th century and the First World War is displayed by memorabilia, paintings, sculptures, documents (letters, diaries and manuscripts), drawings, engravings, weapons and prints.