The nine arches
Nine arches in nine rows on every face — a severe repetition that gives the building its signature.
dalbera from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Gunnar Klack — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gunnar Klack — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gunnar Klack — CC BY-SA 4.0
On a short first visit, no. But for anyone interested in architecture or photography, or on a third trip to Rome, the district earns two hours — and it is entirely free.
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A white marble cube of six storeys with four identical faces, each carrying nine arches in nine rows. Romans call it the Square Colosseum, and it is the best-known building of the EUR district south of the city. It was built between 1938 and 1943 as the centrepiece of a world exhibition the Fascist government planned for 1942, which the war cancelled. The architecture is itself a document of that period: severe Italian rationalism recalling the Roman arch and stripping it of all ornament. Twenty-eight statues representing the arts and trades stand around its base. It sat abandoned for decades until the fashion house Fendi restored it in 2015 and made it their headquarters — opening a free exhibition space on the ground floor. The whole EUR district is a strange architectural experiment worth an hour: wide avenues, austere white buildings and an artificial lake. Ten minutes from the centre on metro Line B. Viewing from outside is always free; entry is limited to the temporary exhibitions on the ground floor.
Nine arches in nine rows on every face — a severe repetition that gives the building its signature.
A whole 1930s quarter of wide avenues and a lake — an architectural experiment unlike the rest of Rome.
Quadrato della Concordia 3, EUR district, Rome