One of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide is the Colosseum in Rome. It gained fame as soon as it was built and has continued to do so until now, more than two millennia later. It is a striking fact that around 7 million tourists visit there each year. Its fascinating architecture, history, and worldwide fame make it one of the most known and visited places in the world! Therefore, if you were wondering why everybody is talking about this great monument, here are some key reasons for that!
A Man-Made Wonder
The Colosseum, which formerly held between 50 and 80 thousand people, is the biggest ancient amphitheater in the whole globe. The Colosseum has long served as a venue for public shows, including gladiator bouts, gladiator-animal combat, recreations of historical conflicts, animal hunts, etc. You can only try to imagine what this spectacular structure could have looked like in the past when performances stretched for up to 100 days!
It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site
In 1980, the Colosseum officially became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Ancient Roman culture, emperors, gladiator battles, mysticism, mythology, customs, architecture—all of these things are connected to a beautiful structure that proudly stands out from Rome’s serene landscape. Around 7 million visitors visit the Colosseum each year, or roughly 20,000 each day. If you still don’t count yourself among them, take a summer trip to Italy and make your dreams come true. You can always book tours of the Colosseum and get the chance to see the great Colosseum’s magnificence firsthand. It will certainly be an unforgettable experience!
Fascinating architecture
The Colosseum was designed as a symbol of Rome’s power. When it was finished, it was the most intricate man-made structure in the world. The planning and building of the Colosseum got underway in 72 AD. Jewish slaves who had been captured as prisoners after a battle contributed the majority of the work for the structure. An estimated 100,000 cubic meters of travertine stone and a comparable volume of Roman cement, bricks, and tuff blocks were used to construct the Colosseum. In addition to the various kinds of stone and cement, the enormous blocks were held together using an estimated 300 tonnes of iron clamps.
Today, the Colosseum stands as a representation of each of the three main architectural orders of the time: The Tuscan style, a Roman adaptation of the austere Greek Doric form, was used for the ground floor columns. The Ionic columns on the second floor were a little more ornate. The more ornate and ornamented Corinthian style was used in the third story.
To that end, the architectural design has an elevated level of intricacy!
Its Secrets
Although the arena was the Colosseum’s most recognizable feature, its underground space was more significant. There were tunnels throughout the underground network of passages.
Gladiators and animals were held in the hypogeum, a system of tunnels and cells divided into two levels before they were used in the arena above.
History
There are numerous tales about the spectacles for which people traveled from far and wide to spend a day in Rome since the details of the performances and contents that took place inside the Colosseum have never been fully divulged. There could have been a performance schedule, though. Therefore, it is believed that the morning was set for exhibitions of wild, exotic animals from the Roman Empire’s realm, the noon hour was allocated for the execution of prisoners – for which animals were previously employed – and the afternoon was dedicated to gladiatorial combat.
There is a myth that claims the Colosseum in Rome was also used for recreation and mock naval battles, but historians were unable to corroborate this because doing so would have required filling the Colosseum with water from surrounding lakes or pools.
Gladiatorial combat gained popularity once the Colosseum opened, and free men volunteered for the glory and money it promised. They included ex-soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers, as well as those who were in need of any type of revenue. The best evidence of the popularity of gladiatorial combat is the fact that the custom has persisted for at least 650 years.
The Colosseum is one of the most popular tourist destinations and has long been a source of pride for Rome and all of Italy. The Colosseum has served as a representation of the city to which all roads lead ever since it was built, and it boldly resists the ravages of time and natural calamities. All this makes it a perfect destination for your next trip!
