From 1969 to the late 1980s, Italy experienced 14,000+ acts of political violence. Left-wing and right-wing terrorism, state collusion, and unsolved massacres.
Plan a history trip →December 12, 1969: Piazza Fontana bombing (Milan, 17 dead, right-wing, beginning of the "strategy of tension"). 1970s: Red Brigades (left-wing terrorism), NAR (right-wing), and state-linked violence. 1978: Red Brigades kidnap and murder former PM Aldo Moro (held for 55 days; body found in Via Caetani, Rome). August 2, 1980: Bologna station bombing (85 dead, the deadliest terrorist attack in Italian history; right-wing, with alleged state intelligence involvement). 1992: Mafia assassinates judges Falcone (May 23) and Borsellino (July 19) in Palermo — the shock that ended an era.
Bologna station: a crack in the wall is preserved at the bombing site. The station clock is stopped at 10:25 (the time of the explosion). Memorial and museum (€5). Via Caetani, Rome: plaque where Moro’s body was found (midway between the DC and PCI headquarters — the symbolism was deliberate). Via Fani, Rome: where Moro was kidnapped (5 bodyguards killed). Museo della Memoria, Brescia: Piazza della Loggia bombing (1974, 8 dead).