While we were in Rome we ‘had’ to go see the Colosseum. And it didn’t disappoint.
The Colosseum was started in 70AD and finished in 80AD. To celebrate its opening there was a 100 day festival where 5000 animals were slaughtered in gladiatorial battles. Joy.
While we were at the Colosseum we went on a tour (which I recommend) where we got to see under where the stage would’ve been, and also up to the very top story. The underground was pretty neat though.
They took you down below the stage piece that they had constructed. It probably also provides structural support to the areas where the tour ran.
They showed us where all the lifts and pulleys were as well as where they kept their boats for mock sea battles… yes BOATS! They actually flooded the Colosseum for these battles.
Under the Colosseum there were actually 2 levels. Above there were 4, seating 50,000 people.
The Colosseum was actually nicknamed after a statue of Nero that was situated outside (shown below) and was rather large, 30m tall, and people went to the arena with the colossus outside.
The other nickname The Arena was given because the floor was sand, and arena is Italian for sand.
If you are ever in this part of the world I would highly recommend going to see this magnificent building.
Wow, that looks amazing! The last panoramic shot with you, just makes you realise how huge it is!
Phenomenal right? It truly is huge. What’s kind of sad is that it used to be completely covered in white marble – but most of that was pilfered for St Peter’s Basilica. The Holy Empire was built out of the Roman Empire, eh?
The structure was never flooded and this is a wives tail. It also only held 20,000 people.. Sounds like you got a fake tour. I suggest Dark Night tours with true professionals.