The Grand Orient of Italy (GOI) (Italian: Grande Oriente d'Italia) is an Italian masonic grand lodge founded in 1805; the viceroy Eugene of Beauharnais was instrumental in its establishment. It was based at the Palazzo Giustiniani, Rome, Italy from 1901 until 1985 and is now located at the Villa del Vascello. Its current Grand Master is Italian journalist Stefano Bisi.
As of March 2012 the grand lodge had 21,400 adherents divided in 757 lodges.
History
The Grand Orient of Italy was founded in 1805, during the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy; the viceroy Eugene of Beauharnais was instrumental in its establishment.
Past grand masters included:
Freemasonry was suppressed by Mussolini in 1925, being restarted after the Second World War.
In 1972 it was recognised as regular by the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). This is no longer the case, and the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy is the grand lodge now recognized by the UGLE. Most North American grand lodges, on the other hand, still recognize the Grand Orient.
Propaganda Due, the lodge that investigative journalists have identified as being implicated in the murder of Roberto Calvi, was originally chartered by the Grand Orient. The Grand Orient revoked its charter in 1974.
Prior to Gustavo Raffi's grand mastership two terms of five years was the maximum tenure for a grand master. This, however was changed during Raffi's time, and his three-term grand mastership which began in 1999 ended in 2014.