The Coliseum is an immense and majestic monument of architecture of Ancient Rome. "It is so huge that it is impossible to completely retain its image in memory. " When you see it, everything else will seem small to you, " Goethe once wrote of him.
The Colosseum is not just Italy's main attraction, along with the Tower of Pisa and other historical monuments. This is a story, frozen in stone and forever preserved in itself those events that shuddered Rome for hundreds of years.
The Colosseum in Rome - history
The Colosseum is a monument to a difficult fate, because Vespasian does not decide to destroy in every way the traces of the rule of his predecessor Emperor Nero, he would never have been built. On the site of the pond with swans, which adorned the Golden Palace, in 80 AD a grand amphitheater was built for 70 thousand spectators, which became the largest and most beautiful stadium in the ancient world. It turned out to be so gigantic that his first name, in honor of the Flavian dynasty, did not take root. Colossal, huge - this is how the proud name of the Colosseum is translated from Latin.
Celebrations in honor of his discovery were held unceasingly for 100 days. During this time, 2000 gladiators, and 500 wild animals were torn to pieces in the battles.
Like other Roman amphitheatres, the Colosseum has the shape of an ellipse, in the middle of which is the arena. The length of the outer ellipse is 524 meters, the major axis is 188 meters, and the small one is 156 meters, and this is an absolute record. At the second largest amphitheater in Tunisia, the length of the ellipse is only 425 meters.
The length of the Coliseum arena is 86 meters, and the width is 54 meters. The height of the walls is from 48 to 54 meters. Under each arch between the middle and upper tier there was one statue, the ceilings were decorated with multi-colored plaster, and on the exterior walls were bronze decorative elements.
In the Roman amphitheater there were 76 entrances to the public, several for the emperor, his nobles and gladiators. Thus, all spectators could disperse after the game in 5 minutes.
Now this is no longer a magnificent amphitheater, but rather a symbol of strict minimalism. During his existence, he survived the invasion of the barbarians after the collapse of the Roman Empire, earthquake fires and other elemental strikes. Even the Romans later used it as a storehouse of free building materials, which was considered a good form.
But even centuries after the Colosseum collapsed, everyone who sees it for the first time can not refrain from ecstasy.
Interesting facts about the Colosseum
- The construction of the Colosseum, which stood for 2 thousand years, took only 9 years.
- The seats in his stands were located, taking into account the social status of the audience. So the first three tiers were given to noble guests, and the fourth to the commoners.
- Technologies of those years allowed using water channels specially constructed under the arena to fill it with water. And the length of the improvised lake reached several meters. On it, in addition to gladiatorial and other land battles, water battles were also held, in which even galleys could participate.
- In the 15th and 16th centuries, Pope Paul 2 took stones from the Colosseum to build a Venetian palace, and Pope Xixistus 5 wanted to use it in
as a garment factory.
How to get to the Colosseum?
To the very center of ancient Rome, where the Colosseum is located in Italy, you can reach the Colosseo station on line B, blue. Today, the inexhaustible flow of tourists, the vibrations of intense urban traffic, wind and frost become a real challenge for the Colosseum. Already, there are more than 3 thousand cracks in it, the fragments gradually fall off. And even during the usual shopping in Rome , you should think about the transience of time and be sure to look at this wonder of the world, which to this day never ceases to amaze.