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The creation of this obelisk came about following the offer, in 1927, by a commission of industrialists on behalf of the people of Carrara of a gigantic marble monolith to be dedicated to Mussolini.

The project was by Costantino Costantini. Given its size, both the extraction from the quarry and the transport to Rome were very demanding and, as some noted, the experience and skills that had been developed in Rome around the 16th century for moving the great Egyptian obelisks no longer existed. The monolith went down to the sea in a convoy pulled by 60 pairs of oxen and by sea and up the Tiber River to its intended location on a special ship. In contrast to the wooden scaffolding used by Domenico Fontana, a reinforced concrete structure was built for the erection of the monolith.

The inauguration took place on 4 November 1932.