 Tomb of Vittorio Emanuele II, Pantheon Both Vittorio Emanuele II (1820-78), the first king of Italy, and his son and heir, Umberto I (1844-1900), are buried in the Pantheon. The grand tomb of Vittorio Emanuele II proclaims him as Father of the Fatherland. The tomb of his son is a rather less ostentatious affair. The second king of Italy was assassinated in the Italian city of Monza on July 29th, 1900, by Gaetano Bresci (1869-1901). Little over a year later, in September 1901, the U.S. president William McKinley was shot and killed by Leon F. Czolgosz (1873-1901), who claimed that he had been inspired by the assassination of Italy's monarch. Both assassins were self-declared anarchists. Umberto I is interred with his consort Margherita of Savoy (1851-1926), the queen who gave her name to a pizza! The story goes that, in June 1889, the Pizza Margherita, whose red tomatoes, green basil, and white cheese are supposed to represent the colours of the Italian flag, was invented by the pizzaiolo (pizza-maker) Raffaelle Esposito and named in honour of Queen Margherita of Savoy. An entertaining tale, but almost certainly false!  Tomb of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita Comments are closed.
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Blogging about Rome:
its art, history and culture. My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
small-group walking tours of Rome. Search Walks in Rome:
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May 2020
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