The euro crisis front has been relatively quiet since ECB President Mario Draghi gave his famous "whatever it takes to save the euro" speech in July, and many analysts have been waiting for this weekend for months.

Mario Monti, an unelected technocrat, has been relatively successful in pushing through economic reforms since assuming office in late 2011, but those reforms have driven the country deeper into recession, and record high unemployment shows how Italians are suffering.

As a result, former comedian Beppe Grillo and his newly-formed political party, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, have seen a surge in interest.