The Pyramid of the Italians stands on the Puerto del Escudo mountain pass, in the province of Burgos, close to the border with Cantabria. It is an unusual monument in the Spanish landscape, with a stepped pyramid shape that makes it easy to recognise from the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the monument is currently closed to visitors. The enclosure is fenced off, the building is locked and warning signs indicate a risk of falling material. Although it can be viewed from outside the restricted area, it is not possible to visit the interior, and climbing onto the structure or crossing the barriers is dangerous.
The monument was built between 1938 and 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. It was intended as a mausoleum for Italian soldiers who died during the fighting around the Escudo pass and the Nationalist campaign in northern Spain. These soldiers belonged to the Corpo Truppe Volontarie, the Italian military force sent by Benito Mussolini to support Francisco Franco’s Nationalist side. The intervention was part of Fascist Italy’s military involvement in the Spanish Civil War, alongside assistance from Nazi Germany and other foreign supporters of Franco.
The project was designed by the Italian architect Attilio Radic, with Pietro di Varzi, a military chaplain, involved in its development. The building is approximately 20 metres high and is made of concrete faced with limestone slabs. Its architecture combines a stepped pyramid form with the rationalist and Art Deco influences of the period. The shape was intended to give the memorial a monumental appearance, while its isolated position in the mountains made it visible against the surrounding landscape.
Inside, the building was designed as a circular funerary chamber, with rows of niches for the remains of the dead soldiers and a separate crypt for senior officers. The entrance was framed by a large letter M, whose intended meaning is disputed: it has been associated with Mussolini, but it has also been interpreted as referring to death or the dead. Fascist symbols and inscriptions were originally placed around the entrance, including the fasces, an emblem adopted by Mussolini’s movement. Some of these elements have disappeared, but the surviving architecture and inscriptions still show the monument’s original political and commemorative purpose.
The building was officially inaugurated in August 1939, shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War. The ceremony took place in the context of the victory of Franco’s forces and the Fascist Italian intervention. The memorial was therefore not simply a burial place for soldiers who had died abroad; it was also a public monument created within the political culture of Fascist Italy and Francoist Spain. Understanding this context is essential when considering its historical significance today.
The remains did not stay there permanently. In the early 1970s, after a serious coach accident involving Italian former soldiers and relatives who had travelled to visit the memorial, the Italian authorities arranged for the remains to be removed. Some were repatriated to Italy, while others were transferred to the Italian military shrine of San Antonio de Padua in Zaragoza. The pyramid consequently lost its original funerary function and gradually fell into neglect.
Over the following decades, the structure deteriorated. Weather exposure, damaged limestone facing, vandalism and the removal of architectural elements affected the building. Graffiti appeared on its walls, and some parts became unstable. In 2024, the regional government of Castile and León declared the Pyramid of the Italians a Bien de Interés Cultural, the Spanish designation for a protected cultural asset, in the category of monument. The decision recognised its architectural and historical importance. It also established the requirement for its history to be properly contextualised in accordance with Spain’s democratic memory legislation.
However, official protection has not yet resulted in a restored monument open to ordinary visitors. Recent reporting in 2026 described the site as fenced off, with visible deterioration and warnings about the risk of falling pieces. Plans for restoration and future visitor access have been discussed, but these should not be confused with completed works or a confirmed reopening. At present, the building should be treated as closed.
The Pyramid of the Italians remains a controversial part of Spain’s twentieth-century heritage. It can be studied as an example of Fascist funerary architecture and as evidence of Italy’s military intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Its conservation raises questions about how monuments connected with dictatorships and political violence should be preserved and explained. Protecting a building does not require celebrating the ideology that produced it; it can instead provide an opportunity to explain the historical events, propaganda and human costs associated with it.
For visitors travelling through the area, the most important practical point is that the Pyramid of the Italians cannot currently be explored inside. The exterior may be visible from permitted public areas, but the fenced enclosure must not be crossed, and visitors should not climb the steps or approach unstable sections. Its location on a mountain pass also means that fog, strong winds, rain, ice and snow can make conditions difficult. Until restoration and safe public access are formally confirmed, it is best regarded as a historical monument that can be observed from outside rather than as an attraction offering a visitor tour.