Colosseo

Probably the most famous monument in the world, the Flavian Amphitheater is known by the name of Colosseum for the colossal bronze statue of Nero which, in the 2nd century AD, stood a few meters from it.

Wanted by the Emperor Vespasian, and completed by his son Titus in 80 AD, the building was intended for fighting, games between gladiators (munera) and simulations of hunting wild and exotic animals (venationes).

The exterior is made up of four superimposed architectural orders: the first three are formed by eighty arches framed by semi-columns, while the fourth order is divided into squares interspersed with windows. In the last order, masonry and wooden supports were inserted to support an immense tarpaulin (velarium) which served to shelter the spectators from the sun and rain.

Inside (cavea) there were brick tiers covered in marble. The arena was made with a large wooden board covered with sand. In the basement there was a dense series of galleries in which the beasts were kept and the props and hoists were kept.

In some periods of the year it is possible to descend into the belly of the monument, in the most well-known environments that still retain the conditions in which they were found at the end of the 5th century AD, when they were buried. Since then they have not undergone any tampering due to subsequent uses, as happened for the elevated part of the Amphitheater.

Two thousand years of age but the Colosseum always remains the symbol of the eternal city, attracting thousands of visitors every year.