Freemasonry in Italy

Freemasonry in Italy (Italian: Massoneria) dates to the first half of the eighteenth century. Its success largely depended on the lack of enthusiasm with which Papal bans on the order were enforced in the various states, but after the end of the Napoleonic regime, Freemasonry was suppressed in most of the peninsula. The start of the unification process in 1859 saw a revival in Freemasonry. Giuseppe Garibaldi, a leader of Italian unification, was an active Mason and a keen supporter of the craft. In the 1920s Freemasonry was again suppressed under Fascism but revived again after the fall of Benito Mussolini. Today's Italy contains a wide variety of Masonic observances, regular, liberal, male, female and mixed.