Rome celebrates 74th anniversary of liberation on 25 April.

A public holiday across Italy, all state schools and offices are closed on Thursday 25 April, as well as many shops.

Traditionally the day is marked in Rome with a ceremony in the morning at the Altare della Patria, attended by Italian president Sergio Mattarella.

Matteo Salvini - Italy's deputy premier, interior minister and leader of the right-wing Lega party - says he will not be "waving red handerkerchiefs" in any Liberation Day march on 25 April. Salvini will instead be in Corleone, in Sicily, supporting police in the "fight against the Camorra, 'Ndrangheta and mafia" which he described as "our raison d'etre."

At 09.30 supporters of the Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d’Italia (ANPI) will walk from Largo Benedetto Bompiani in the Ardeatino district to Piazza di Porta S. Paolo, by the Piramide Cestia monument, resulting in numerous bus detours, road closures and parking bans along the route.

The fact that this year's Festa della Repubblica falls on a Thursday means many people in Italy will take Friday off to create a "ponte" (bridge) or four-day weekend.

Photo La Repubblica