The Museum and Mausoleum of Guglielmo Marconi is a museum and burial structure for the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

scientist, inventor, and engineer, Guglielmo Marconi. The tomb is located adjacent to the 17th-century Villa Griffone/Villa Marconi, located on via Celestini #1 in Pontecchio Marconi, about 15 kilometers outside the city of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

Emilia Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both also ; ; egl, Emégglia-Rumâgna or ''Emîlia-Rumâgna''; rgn, Emélia-Rumâgna) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy, situated in the north of the country, comprising the historical regions ...

, Italy.

Museum and Foundation

The Marconi Museum (''Museo Marconi)'' celebrates the discoveries and advances of Guglielmo Marconi in the areas of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

and radio communication, as well as a general history of the development of

radiocommunication Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. It houses some of the scientific instruments and products used and developed by Marconi and others. The villa also houses th
Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi
and the Ugo Bordoni Foundation.

Mausoleum

A few years after the death of Marconi in 1937, in the midst of the Second World War, the Mussolini government interred Guglielmo, who had been an avowed fascist sympathizer, and his second wife Maria Cristina Bezzi Scali in an underground

hypogeum A hypogeum or hypogaeum (plural hypogea or hypogaea, pronounced ; literally meaning "underground", from Greek ''hypo'' (under) and ''ghê'' (earth)) is an underground temple or tomb. Hypogea will often contain niches for cremated human rem ...

-tomb, designed by

Marcello Piacentini Marcello Piacentini (8 December 1881 – 19 May 1960) was an Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture. Biography Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini. When he was only 26, he was ...

, and sporting a column with Marconi's bust by Arturo Dazzi. The tomb, as with many fascist architectural monuments, hearkens back to

Etruscan civilization The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

and ancient Roman models of tombs with a simple entrance to an underground chamber beneath a

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

.Emilia Romagna
by Touring Club Italiano, page 277.

References

{{reflist University of Bologna Museums in Emilia-Romagna Science museums in Italy History museums in Italy Italian fascist architecture Monuments and memorials in Emilia-Romagna Guglielmo Marconi