Italy celebrates Republic Day with military parade in Rome.

Italy marks Festa della Repubblica, a national public holiday in celebration of the Italian republic, with a series of major events in Rome on Friday 2 June.

Italy's president Sergio Mattarella will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria monument in Piazza Venezia at 09.15.

The solemn ceremony, which will be attended by Italy's premier Giorgia Meloni, is followed with a spectacular flypast over Rome by the Frecce Tricolori jets, emitting plumes with the red, white and green colours of the Italian flag.

A large-scale military parade will take place along Via dei Fori Imperiali, and firefighters will unfurl a giant Italian tricolour at the Colosseum.

Italy marks Festa della Repubblica this year by opening state museums and archaeological sites, including the Colosseum, for free on 2 June.

Le iniziative per la #FestadellaRepubblica Italiana pic.twitter.com/iAZrxJjNCn

— Quirinale (@Quirinale) June 1, 2023

It will also be possible to visit Palazzo Madama, seat of the Italian senate, from 10.00 to 18.00. To access the building, it is necessary to collect a ticket by going to the entrance on the same day, from 08.30 onwards. Each visitor can request, subject to availability, a maximum of four tickets.

Why does Italy celebrate Festa della Repubblica?

The annual holiday commemorates the day in 1946 when Italians voted in favour of a republic and against the monarchy which had been discredited during world war two.

All public offices and schools, and many businesses, will be closed in Italy on 2 June.

Photo credit: Daniele de Gregorio / Shutterstock.com