The Fiftieth Anniversary
1911: The Fiftieth Anniversary
For the first 50 years of the Kingdom of Italy all three capital cities played a leading role in the magnificent celebrations and cultural events of outstanding significance for the time.
The opening took place in Torino the 17th March, in the presence of the Minister of Finance, Luigi Facta, with a gala dinner offered by the mayors of all the municipalities which were part of the Sardinian states.
The official celebration was held the 27th March in Rome, on the Capitol hill, before the King Vittorio Emanuele III and with an opening speech delivered by the poet Giovanni Pascoli.
Torino organised an “International Exposition of Industry and Work” and confirmed itself as being the productive capital of the country.
The 1911 Expo followed a long series of exhibitions set up in the city since the nineteenth century (1829, 1832, 1838, 1844, 1850, 1858, 1884 1898 and 1902) – a unique case in Italy.
The Expo, covering over 1 million square metres along the Po banks, in the Parco del Valentino area, involved over 20 foreign (both European and non-European) countries. The works began at the end of 1909 and were completed in record time.
The construction was co-ordinated by some Turinese architects, but every nation designed its own pavilion.
The City of Torino pavilion covered 1,400 square metres and showed, with large maps and charts, the most important works and services put in place at that time, including the Chiomonte hydroelectric power station.
The architecture of the makeshift pavilions was spectacular, just as the lightning and the infrastructure built for the occasion (including a walkway over the Po with statues, waterworks and even a travelator).
Great exhibitions were displayed in Valle Giulia, such as an International contemporary art show and an ethnographic exhibit about the traditions of the Italian regions.
Finally, Florence hosted an “Exhibition of Italian Portray from the end of the 16th century to 1861”, which displayed 1,000 works portraying important figures from the Renaissance to the Risorgimento, and an “International Floriculture Expo”.
