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The Marble Stadium in Rome: an Amphitheatre of Athletes in White Marble
Sixty statues, all four metres high, a sunken athletics track, gleaming tiers of Carrara marble. The Stadio dei Marmi stands in the Foro Italico, on the right bank of the river Tiber, at the foot of Monte Mario. Since 2013 it has also carried the name of Pietro Mennea, the sprinter who held the world record in the 200 metres for 17 years.
A Stadium Designed for Running, Not Football
The architect Enrico Del Debbio, from Carrara, designed it in 1928, and completed it in 1932. It formed part of the Foro Mussolini — created as a training ground for the Fascist Male Academy of Physical Education — and was intended to host the 1944 Olympics, subsequently cancelled due to the war. Del Debbio sank the track approximately 5 metres below ground level to create the perimeter seating tiers that can today accommodate over 5,000 spectators.
Sixty Provinces, Sixty Athletes
The white marble statues were donated by 60 of the 94 Italian provinces of the time, and each pedestal bears the name of the donating city. Among them: the helmsman, the archer, the discus thrower, the skier, the slinger — lesser-known sports alongside the classics. Four bronzes by Aroldo Bellini complete the ring: two pairs of wrestlers on either side of the VIP tribune, a javelin thrower and an archer at the entrance. The mosaic by Angelo Canevari at the entrance depicts eight figures from track and field athletics.
