Colosseum, Rome

Favorite thing: My favorite thing about Rome was enjoying looking at the Colosseum. It is such an awesome piece of archtecture. It is probably the most recognized symbol of Rome and perhaps all of Italy. Having seen it everywhere in television, books, and magazines, I finally got to see it myself.

Favorite thing: After the fire in 64 ac, Nerón began to built the Domus Area. His intention was transform a big part of the urban centre in a grandiose villa. The palace that had built there was destroyed by his sucessor, but in this days it´s a beautiful area, and from there you can see nice wies of the Colisseum.-

Luego del gran incendio del año 64 d.c. Nerón se dedicó a la realización de la Domus Area, que transformaba gran parte del centro urbano en una villa grandiosa. Del palacio que se construyó queda muy poco - todo fue destruido posteriormente por sus sucesores -, pero actualmente es una muy bella zona desde donde se pueden apreciar hermosas vistas del Coliseo.-

Favorite thing: The Colosseum again... :) How could you visit Rome and not see it!?!?!

Surely it is the most famous thing in all of Rome... ;) And this is probably one of the most seen angles of the Colosseum... ;)

Favorite thing: Make sure you visit the Colosseum! It is just amazing to walk up from the underground station and as soon as you get to the top of the stairs you find this fantastic old thing standing in front of you...wow! I almost fell over backwards!

We even had our photos taken with 'real' gladiators out the front...but make sure you don't pay the price they want, if you haggle a bit they WILL drop the price!

The Colosseum was built in 72AD. It once held 80,000 people while they watched gladiator combat games and wild animal shows. It is hard to believe that now though since it is fairly ruined on the inside. We thought it would be much bigger too (from the Gladiator movie) but it was still fantastic to see!!

It costed us L10,000 for entry into the Colosseum but it is well worth a look... Especially when you can follow along a tour and listen in to their information.

Opening times for the Colosseum are: Summer Monday, Tuesday, Thursday to Saturday 9 am to 7 pm, Wednesday and Sunday 9 am to 2 pm. Winter it closes 1 hour before sunset.

To get there, take the metro to Colosseo.

Favorite thing: The bigger roman amphitheatre, built in 72 AD. In despite of the ruins, it´s a magnificient building.
You should hire the local guide, who are anthropologists, that make you focus on the really important details, and let you know the truth of what "really" happened there.-

El mayor anfiteatro romano fue mandado construir por el emperador Vespasiano en el año 72 dc. Actualmente solo quedan ruinas de lo que era, pero eso basta para darse cuenta lo grandioso que debe haber sido antiguamente. -

Favorite thing: You must see the Colosseum, it's so much larger than I imagined. It held up to 55,000 people. As you look down into its depths you can see the pens (see in my travelog) where the Christians and the wild animals were kept for slaughter, at the inaugural games in AD 80 over 9,000 wild animals were killed.
The arena had approximately eighty entrances so crowds could arrive and leave easily and quickly, much more efficient than our buildings of today..
The plan is a vast ellipse, measuring externally 615 ft x 510 ft, with the base of the building covering about 6 acres. Vaults span between eighty radial walls to support tiers of seating and for passageways and stairs.
The facade of three tiers of arches and an attic story is about 158 ft tall — roughly equivalent to a 12-15 story building.

Favorite thing: is particularly ordinary don't you think?

Of course this would most probably be the most important site to be seen in Rome. Well this and St Peter's square, I would think. It would be interesting to find out which monument or place statistically is the most visited in Rome............then in Italy......... I am sure that this would have been done at some time..............?

Fondest memory: Well it is a magnificent city that keeps calling you back............don't know why, it just does.

Favorite thing: This triumphal arch was built to commemorate Constantines victory over Maxentius in 312AD

But the arch is actually built with bits and pieces from other things. Some stonework from 81AD and some hunting scenes from 117AD

It is adjacent to the Coloseum.