Backpacking In Italy : Visiting Piazzale Loreto, Milan, Where Mussolini Was Hung Up In Public

Backpacking In Italy : Visiting Piazzale Loreto, Milan, Where Mussolini Once Hung

“Mussolini hangs from a butcher’s hook” – Richey James Edwards.

On 29th April 1945, the dead corpses of Benito Mussolini (aged 61) and his girlfriend Clara Petacci (aged 33) were brought to the city of Milan. They were hung up on public display here, fully clothed, in a square called Piazzale Loreto. It was the end of fascism in Italy, and the end of Nazi Germany. Hitler committed suicide the day after, on 30th April 1945. World War II was over. It was a defining moment in world history.

In 2019, I spent a night in Hitler’s town Braunau Am Inn, where I stayed in a hostel dorm in a prison. Plus, I first visited that exact spot where they hung Mussolini, in June 2016. That was a fast trip where I backpacked the sights of Milan, toured La Pinacoteca Art Gallery, reviewed Madama Hostel, and the charming Antica Corte Milanese B and B and watched the start of Euro 2016 with my Dad Joe and brother Marko. I quickly checked out Piazzale Loreto where Mussolini once hung, yet I never covered it in a standalone blog post. Just for old time sake and reflection, here’s that photo…of a shy me doing the Mussolini in 2016.

When Marek Bladowski and I made a fluke return to Milan in December 2024, we decided to check out Piazzale Loreto again, and spend a few hours here! We were doing the Mussolini again. This time due to a wild connecting flight option to Africa Away. It was Warszawa to Milano, before we’d fly to Tunis. We had time to see Milan. It’s a great city, I’ve been before and you can find some great itineraries on sites like the Essential Nomad.

How to get to Piazzale Loreto

This is an easy one, Piazzale Loreto is easy to get to – it has a metro station and is also near the central train station in Milan. Simply use the excellent Milan underground network and head to the station Loreto. It’s on the green M2 line. Get out at any exit at Loreto, and head to Piazzale Loreto, Loreto Square/Place. One of the exits is bang on the square. It’s a busy junction and roundabout now with traffic. A far cry from a public square hanging dictators upside down.

Here is the exact location – Piazzale Loreto on Google Maps –

When we alighted at Loreto we were not exactly at the square yet, then we met a local guy by chance, his name was Adriano. We greeted him in Italian and then asked him in English if he knew the exact spot where Mussolini was hung. He stopped and pointed “up there on the left”. Intrigued, and even at 9:45 a.m. we decided to ask him if there was a bar open nearby. I had watched a film years ago called Tea With Mussolini. This time, we wanted to do a Beer With Mussolini. Adriano said sure – there’s a bar near the McDonald’s. Then he headed off on his bicycle, we didn’t have time to grab a photo but thanks for your part in our journey Adriano. So we headed up to the square to get some photos, reminisce, full circle the shebang and then grab beer and food. Of course not in the ridiculous DickMonald’s brand.

Where Exactly Was Mussolini Killed?

Mussolini was captured along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, on 27th April 1945 by local partisans near the village of Dongo on Lake Como, Northern Italy. Mussolini and Petacci were executed the following afternoon, two days before Adolf Hitler’s suicide. They then decided to move them to the nearest big city, which was Milan. The reason they chose to hand his dead corpse at Piazzale Loreto was a stroke of irony…

“Propaganda as a substitute for action was almost the essence of fascism” – Mack Smith.

Where Exactly Was Mussolini hung?

Mussolini was hung up on an old railway girder at Piazzale Loreto in Milan. In the 79 years that have elapsed, the square here has changed a lot. Just have a look at these photos for proof.

Mussolini and Petacci’s bodies were transported to Milan and displayed in Piazzale Loreto, a suburban square, where an enraged crowd gathered to insult and abuse them. Later, their corpses were suspended upside down from a metal beam above a service station in the square. The choice of this location was deliberate. Fifteen partisans had been shot at Piazzale Loreto in August 1944 in retaliation for partisan attacks and Allied bombing raids, and their bodies had then been left on public display, here. At the time, Mussolini is said to have remarked “for the blood of Piazzale Loreto, we shall pay dearly”. So for sheer irony, Mussolini was left on public display here, too.

Initially, Mussolini was buried in an unmarked grave, but in 1946, fascist sympathizers exhumed and stole his body. After four months, authorities recovered it and kept it concealed for the next eleven years. Finally, in 1957, his remains were permitted to be laid to rest in the Mussolini family crypt in his hometown, Predappio. Today, his tomb serves as a pilgrimage site for neo-fascists, with his death anniversary observed through neo-fascist rallies. I haven’t yet been to the other two Mussolini important places – Predappio (his grave and hometown) and Dongo (where there is an actual marker of the place they shot him).

Piazzale Loreto in 2025

There is no marker, no tribute, no mention, no proof that Mussolini was hung here. You have to use your imagination here to consider where they hung Benito. Mussolini 1945 to what is now here in 2025 is totally unrecognisable. The square has been redeveloped, changed, new buildings are up.

This is a historic piece of world history right here and totally worth checking out. Most tourists that backpack Milan go to the Duomo, the San Siro, the Pinacoteca and eat some pizza. That’s way too textbook for the Don’t Stop Living blog. There are a few other curiosities and art in and around the square, which we full-circled…

Tea With Mussolini

I studied Mussolini, Fascism and European Dictators at Newtownards Tech in Northern Ireland in 2002 – 2003. It was during this time that I watched a film called Tea With Mussolini! Seriously!

Beer With Mussolini

Instead of Tea With Mussolini, we opted for the Beer With Mussolini option. After visiting the spot where Mussolini was hung, Marek and I decided it was time for a beer. We wanted to go to his “Hung Local” and the DickMonalds here just doesn’t feel appropriate or needed. Yuk.

Luckily we avoided the wannabe Italian USA “commercial burger giant”, and found solace, and beer in a poky Italian style cafe come shop, run by a Chinese family. We were sure this was a different bar than the one suggested by Adriano. He mentioned a basement bar called Her or She. We found a street level bar called Tabaceria Bar L’Aurora. It had Chinese Tsingtao beer as well as Italian Birra Moretti.

This was one of those wee Italian shops that triple up as a cafe and a bar. I actually love them, having visited a load of these on my 15+ visits to Italy.

Straight away I asked if he was licensed to sell alcohol at this time and two Tsingtaos came. We also had some Italian pastries, a Birra Moretti each, chatted to some locals and the staff and headed back the way we came.

Here are some videos of my two trips to Piazzale Loreto where Mussolini hung: