Colosseum, Rome

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In Rome you can take a picture with the Roman soldier or gladiator.

There are several people at Colosseum and at Il Vittoriano, who were dressed in costume of ancient Roman soldier or gladiator and ready to photograph with you. You can choose, what you want to wear on (casque, circlet, ...)

Of course it cost some money for you. It depends how good you with higgleing ... ;)

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Quamdiu stat Colysaeus, stat et Roma; quando cadet Colysaeus, cadet et Roma, cadet et mundus. - While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls - the World.

The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering

Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.
It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building eventually ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such varied purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.

Unlike earlier amphitheatres that were built into hillsides, the Colosseum is an entirely free-standing structure. It is elliptical in plan and is 189 metres long, and 156 metres wide, with a base area of 6 acres. The height of the outer wall is 48 metres. The perimeter originally measured 545 metres.

The Colosseum's huge crowd capacity made it essential that the venue could be filled or evacuated quickly. Its architects adopted solutions very similar to those used in modern stadiums to deal with the same problem. The amphitheatre was ringed by eighty entrances at ground level, 76 of which were used by ordinary spectators. Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. The northern main entrance was reserved for the Roman Emperor and his aides, whilst the other three axial entrances were most likely used by the elite.
The arena itself was 83 metres by 48 metres. It comprised a wooden floor covered by sand, covering an elaborate underground structure called the hypogeum.

Today it is one of modern Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession to the amphitheatre.

The Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.

On July, 2007, the Colosseum was voted as one of New Open World Corporation's New Seven Wonders of the World.

It is the really huge and exceeding building, what human was created. It impressed me and put me feel myself so small...

Opening hours from
8:30 to one hour before sunset (Good Friday 8:30 - 14:00, June 2 13:30 - 19:45):
8:30 - 16:30 from January 2 to February 15
8:30 - 17:00 from February 16 to March 15
8:30 - 17:30 from March 16 to last Saturday of March
8:30 - 19:15 from last Sunday of March to August 31
8:30 - 19:00 from September 1 to September 30
8:30 - 18:30 from October 1 to last Saturday of October
8:30 - 16:30 from last Sunday of October to December 31
Closed January 1, December 25.
Ticket office closes one hour before closing time

Tickets:
COLOSSEO/FORO ROMANO and PALATINO valid 2 days:
ADULTS € 9,00 + € 2,00 (for exhibitions)
REDUCED FEE € 4,50 + € 2,00 (for exhibitions) for European Union members between 18 and 24 years old
FREE ENTRANCE for persons under 18 and over 65 years old from the European Union

Your first glimpse of this magnificent structure will be likely one of the most memorable travel moments of your life and no matter how many times I have seen the Colosseum it still makes me gasp. It is definitely Romes most famous and known monument and for good reason. The marble covered building once held over 50,000 spectators complete with boxed seats, toilet facilities, refreshment stands and a giant retractable sail to act as a roof. The gladiators used to battle it out in true gruesome fashion while crocodiles would fight panthers. It was built by Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and it is one of my favorite monuments in the world. I highly highly recommend the 11 Euro tour because the guides wealth of information really brings this place to life. They will tell you stories like how the common folk would pay big dollars for the Gladiators blood so they could use it to cure illness. The Colosseum and its history is incredible.

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Rumor has it that they are thinking about, if they haven't already since I was there March 2007, of rebuilding the entire floor. This would be a shame as one of the great thrills of visiting the Colosseum is admiring the winding tunnels that make up the underground and imagining how they were used. I will say that having the floor being partially rebuilt does provide excellent contrast to how things would of looked back then and how the underground was used. Back in the early to mid 1900's the floor of the Coliseum was completely covered with sand. They way they have it now is just about perfect with the 3/4's of the underground maze exposed and the a 1/4 of the floor rebuilt for contrast.

UPDATE: Feb.2008
Turns out the rumors are false, they are not going to rebuild the entire floor, rather they are keeping as it appears in the picture. During my most recent visit I spoke with several people who work in the Coliseum who said that while they have many different renovation plans underway, most of the plans are rebuilding the outside of the Colisuem.

I was amazed at the number of people waiting in line at the Coloseum to get in. I guess not everyone researches every site and guidbook on their destination as I obsessively do. So-if you are at the Colosseum, walk towards Palatine Hill. There is a ticket kiosk with NO line. You can purchase your tickets there and bypass everyone stuck in line to get to the entrance! There are people who will approach you for free tours. These people are legit, they give you a free, informative tour with a group but will try and sell you on one of their other (not free) tours. You also can bypass the line with them. We did not want to wait for the tour to start so we declined.

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THE COLOSSEUM – A FACT

The word "arena" is the Latin word for sand. Sand was spread across the amphitheater fighting floor to soak up the blood from combatants. They used a lot of sand in here.

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Everyone knows the history of the Romans festive thirst for blood in the Golden Age during Ceasar and Augustus, so why pay the entry fee or have a guide? We chose not to. I would go a step further and suggest seeing the roman forum on your own as well. Although some of that history i didnt know...

Be sure to see the Colosseum at night, when it is ablaze in torches. Theres a hill next to the site where you can relax amidst the giant glorious edification. After that, continue through the roman forum on the giant roman legion engineered roads which passes by the shrine of Julius Ceasar! That was a magical moment. The very spot where he was buried! Masses of people continued worshipping this site after his death, unapologetic to the senators who removed him and banned further praising of Ceaser's name or family.

Walk through the Grand arches that hold facades of the sacking and war looting of Jerusalem the holy land. No region was saved from the roman imperial grip! Finally climb the steps up to the Piazza Venezia, which allows a view that sends you back in time when looking down at the forum would be senators in discourse about 'republic' for the first time in history in that manner.
The architecture is the best. The golden age of rome was really something special.

We started from Brussels and on the third day morning we arrived in Rome; traffic was fluid. We aimed at the Coliseum (without GPS). We turned around the monument and parked our car, a Fiat 600, in front of it without any obstruction by anybody.
We quietly admired the Coliseum. For me it was the first time, my wife had already visited Rome.
After a quarter of an hour we left and drove for Amalfi where we arrived late in the evening.

That was in 1966.
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Note: VT members (non-Italian; sorry for the discrimination) who have parked their own car in front of the Coliseum are invited to register here for a free membership at the "We parked our car at the Coliseum" VIP club.