The Colosseum of Rome, or the Amphitheatrum Flavium is an ancient Roman amphitheatre in the centre of Rome, Italy. It is considered as the greatest accomplishment of Roman engineering and was the biggest Colosseum in the Roman empire. To this date, it is the largest amphitheatre in the world.
Colosseum was commissioned by King Vespasian, the founder of the Flavian dynasty, in around 70 AD. The land selected for the amphitheater had been densely populated till 64 AD, when it was destroyed in the great fire of Rome. Nero, the then emperor of Rome, acquired the land and added it to his personal estate where he built a enormous palatial villa Domus Aurea and an artificial lake. After Nero’s death, the building was brought down and the lake was filled with debris to obliterate any memory of it. It was on these grounds that Vespasian decided to erect the great Flavian amphitheater.
Colosseum was built also to celebrate the suppression of the Jewish revolt, and much of the funds for the monument came from the wealth looted from the temples of Jerusalem. The building was completed after Vespasian’s death and inaugurate in 80 AD by his son Titus. It consisted of three levels and on the top was a gallery for seating; underground tunnels were dug to house animals and slaves. Games and gladiator fights were held for century and in a way the Colosseum became a symbol of the might and the hedonistic rot of the Roman civilization.
The building suffered many times from natural disasters and fires. Most devastating was a major earthquake in 1349 AD in which the southern part collapsed. The building faced neglect and abuse (in the form of quarrying for stone to make other buildings) for a long time till the Pope decided to conserve the monument as a sacred site for Christianity. Restoration works were done throughout the 19th century and the monument was fully excavated and restored by Mussolini in 1930s. Today it stands as a the greatest identification of the city of Rome.
You can visit the Colosseum’s undergrounds, 2 nd and 3 rd floors.
| Days | Everyday, except 25 Dec and 1 Jan | ||
| Opening Time | 8:30 AM | ||
| Closing Time | 2 Jan to 15 Feb | 4:30 PM | |
| 16 Feb to 15 Mar | 5:00 PM | ||
| 16 Mar to last Saturday of Mar | 5:30 PM | ||
| Last Sunday of Mar to 31 Aug | 7:15 PM | ||
| 1 Sep to 30 Sep | 7:00 PM | ||
| 1 Oct to last Saturday Oct | 6:30 PM | ||
| Last Sunday Oct to 31 Dec | 4:30 PM | ||
| Tickets (allows entrance to the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum for 2 days) | |||
| Entrance Fee | Normal | 12 € | |
| Concession(EU members 18-24 years) | 7.5 € | ||
| EU members below 18 and above 65 | Free Entry | ||
Photo Courtesy – wikipedia