The EUR district is a striking but largely unknown area of Rome by visitors to the country. Roughly a 30-minute drive south of the city center by Via Cristoforo Colombo, and now the financial district for the city, EUR is a monument to a period of Italy’s recent history, and vision of the future.

Construction for the project began in 1937 under Mussolini’s instruction, meant to represent the new imperialist Rome under the Fascist party. It would serve to host the Universal Exhibition of Rome (the EUR acronym stands for Esposizione Universale di Roma) in 1942, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Mussolini’s March on Rome, but plans were scrapped with the outbreak of World War II and Mussolini’s subsequent defeat.