The Dogali Obelisk

Walking Tours of Rome

Dogali Obelisk (Via delle Terme di Diocleziano)

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In a small garden between Stazione Termini, Rome's main railway station, and Piazza dell Repubblica stands an obelisk that was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis by Ramesses II (r. 1279-1213 BCE).

Following the conquest of Egypt by the emperor Augustus (r. 27 BCE-14 CE), the obelisk was transported to Rome, where it was placed outside the Temple of Isis, which stood just to the east of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

The obelisk was unearthed in 1719 and in 1887 it was incorporated into a monument to the 548 Italian soldiers, who had lost their lives at the Battle of Dogali (in the war between Italy and Ethiopia). The monument, which was inaugurated on June 5th, once stood in front of Stazione Termini. 

In 1924 the Dogali Obelisk, as it had come to be known, was moved to its present location. 

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Stazione Termini with the Dogali Obelisk