Colosseum and other Rome, Italy Things to Do Tips

Quamdiu stat Colysaeus, stat et Roma; quando cadet Colysaeus, cadet et Roma, cadet et mundus. - While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls - the World.

The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering

Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.
It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building eventually ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such varied purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.

Unlike earlier amphitheatres that were built into hillsides, the Colosseum is an entirely free-standing structure. It is elliptical in plan and is 189 metres long, and 156 metres wide, with a base area of 6 acres. The height of the outer wall is 48 metres. The perimeter originally measured 545 metres.

The Colosseum's huge crowd capacity made it essential that the venue could be filled or evacuated quickly. Its architects adopted solutions very similar to those used in modern stadiums to deal with the same problem. The amphitheatre was ringed by eighty entrances at ground level, 76 of which were used by ordinary spectators. Each entrance and exit was numbered, as was each staircase. The northern main entrance was reserved for the Roman Emperor and his aides, whilst the other three axial entrances were most likely used by the elite.
The arena itself was 83 metres by 48 metres. It comprised a wooden floor covered by sand, covering an elaborate underground structure called the hypogeum.

Today it is one of modern Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession to the amphitheatre.

The Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.

On July, 2007, the Colosseum was voted as one of New Open World Corporation's New Seven Wonders of the World.

It is the really huge and exceeding building, what human was created. It impressed me and put me feel myself so small...

Opening hours from
8:30 to one hour before sunset (Good Friday 8:30 - 14:00, June 2 13:30 - 19:45):
8:30 - 16:30 from January 2 to February 15
8:30 - 17:00 from February 16 to March 15
8:30 - 17:30 from March 16 to last Saturday of March
8:30 - 19:15 from last Sunday of March to August 31
8:30 - 19:00 from September 1 to September 30
8:30 - 18:30 from October 1 to last Saturday of October
8:30 - 16:30 from last Sunday of October to December 31
Closed January 1, December 25.
Ticket office closes one hour before closing time

Tickets:
COLOSSEO/FORO ROMANO and PALATINO valid 2 days:
ADULTS € 9,00 + € 2,00 (for exhibitions)
REDUCED FEE € 4,50 + € 2,00 (for exhibitions) for European Union members between 18 and 24 years old
FREE ENTRANCE for persons under 18 and over 65 years old from the European Union

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Phone: +39 (0)6 399 677 00
Address: Rome, Piazza del Colosseo
Directions: B line Metro station Colosseo.
A line metro station Manzoni, then two stops of any tram that goes southwards, in the right direction.
Bus lines 60, 75, 85, 87,175, 810, 850, and the electric minibus 117, my favourite
Tramway lines nos 3 and 8.
Website: http://www.the-colosseum.net/

Michelangelo looked at everything with an artist's critical eye, and he was not easily impressed. But when Michelangelo first saw the Pantheon in the early 1500s, he proclaimed it of "angelic and not human design." Surprisingly, at that point, this classic Roman temple, converted into a Christian church, was already more than 1350 years old.

The Pantheon, Also known as Chiesa di Santa Maria ad Martyres, is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 125 AD during Hadrian's reign.
The intended degree of inclusiveness of this dedication is debated. The generic term pantheon is now applied to a monument in which illustrious dead are buried. It is the best preserved of all Roman buildings, and perhaps the best preserved building of its age in the world. It has been in continuous use throughout its history.
The design of the extant building is sometimes credited to the Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus, but it is equally likely that the building and the design should be credited to the emperor Hadrian or his architects. Since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Christian church. The Pantheon is currently the oldest standing domed structure in Rome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres.

The building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment opening into the rotunda, under a coffered, concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus), the Great Eye, open to the sky.

The name comes from two Greek words pan, "everything" and teon "divine".

Also buried there are two kings of Italy: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umberto's Queen, Margherita.

The Pantheon is still a church and masses are still celebrated in the church, particularly on important Catholic days of obligation, and for weddings.

I can't tell very much about the Pantheon's inside, because in the time, when we were visiting this ancient building, there was the restoration and big part of this was cloaked with the transparencys. But all this what we saw, this was great.
Especially I liked the Great Eye with the bright ray of light.

Open -
from 8:30 to 19:30 monday to saturday,
from 9:00 to 18:00 on Sunday,
and 9:00 to 13:00 on holidays that fall on weekdays except for Christmas Day, New Year's Day and May 1, when it is closed.

Admission is free.

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Address: Piazza della Rotonda
Website: http://www.arounder.eu/pantheon/pantheon.html

The Trevi Fountain is the largest — standing 25.9 meters high and 19.8 meters wide — and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains of Rome. It is located in the rione of Trevi.

The fountain at the juncture of three roads (tre vie - three ways) marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revivified Aqua Virgo, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome.
In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water some 20 km from the city. This scene is presented on the present fountain's facade.

A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.
Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of Three Coins in the Fountain were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will ensure a marriage will occur soon, while three coins leads to a divorce. A reported current version of this legend is that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.
Approximately 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day and are collected at night. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy. However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain, including some using a magnetized pole.

I like this fountain, it is gorgeous and beautiful.
Of course there are very much people all time, but when you be in Rome, you must to see it certainly ... and maybe throw you coins ;)

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Address: Piazza di Trevi, Rome
Website: http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/trevi.htm

The Spanish Steps are the set of steps in Rome, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinita dei Monti.
The Spanish Steps is without a doubt the longest and widest staircase in all Europe.

The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built with French diplomat Etienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, today still located in Palazzo Monaldeschi in the piazza below, with the Trinita dei Monti above.

The Spanish Steps were already in poor condition, have been restored several times, most recently in 1995.

In the Piazza at the base is the Early Baroque fountain called La Fontana della Barcaccia - Fountain of the Old Boat, built in 1627-29 and often credited to Pietro Bernini, father of a more famous son, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who is recently said to have collaborated on the decoration.
According to an unlikely legend, Pope Urban VIII had the fountain installed after he had been impressed by a boat brought here by a flood of the Tiber river.

As our guide said, you must to talk with stranger on these steps ... it is for luck.
I found there the local, who was made the lucky wrist-band for one girl from our group.
And I help to communicate they ... it was my talking with stranger ;)

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Directions: Metro: There is a metro station just outside the Spanish Steps from which you can reach Rome's main train station "Roma Termini".
Website: http://www.piazzadispagna.it/

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers occupies the center of the large oval Piazza Navona. It is a masterpiece of Gianlorenzo Bernini's, and emblematic of the dynamic and dramatic effects sought by high Baroque artists.
It was erected in 1651 in front of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.
Bernini's design was selected in competition.

Public fountains in Rome served multiple purposes: first, they were highly needed sources of water for neighbors in the centuries prior to home plumbing. Second, they were monuments to the papal patrons.

This fountain means to depict allegories for the four great rivers in the four continents recognized by the Renaissance geographers: the Nile in Africa, Ganges in Asia, Danube in Europe, and Rio de la Plata in America.
Each has animals and plants that further carry forth the identification. Each has a river god, semi-prostrate, in awe of the central tower, epitomized by the slender Egyptian obelisk (built for the Roman Serapeum in AD 81), symbolizing by Papal power surmounted by the Pamphilij symbol (dove).
In addition, the fountain is a theater in the round, a spectacle of action, that can be strolled around. Water flows and splashes from a jagged and pierced mountainous disorder of travertine marble.

A legend, common with tour-guides, is that Bernini positioned the cowering Rio de la Plata River as if the sculpture was fearing the facade of the church of Sant'Agnese by his rival Borromini could crumble against him. In fact, the fountain was completed several years before Borromini began work on the church.

We enjoy the view to the fountain, and have a lunch in open-air cafe on the piazza Navona. There are several cafes and restaurants on the piazza navona and beside it ...

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Address: Piazza Navona Rome, 00186 Rome Italy
Website: http://www.activitaly.it/inglese/monument/piazzanavona.htm

The Roman Forum, Forum Romanum, was the central area around which ancient Rome developed, in which commerce and the administration of justice took place. The communal hearth was also located here. It was built on the site of a past cemetery.

The ruins within the forum clearly show how urban spaces were utilized during the Roman Age.
The Roman Forum includes a modern statue of Julius Caesar and other major monuments, buildings, and ancient ruins.
During the Middle Ages, though the memory of the Forum Romanum persisted, its monuments were for the most part buried under debris, and its location was designated the Campo Vaccino or cattle field, located between the Capitoline Hill and the Colosseum.

The Roman Forum is the ancient place, where you can walk and feel the breath of history, after you visiting the Colosseum.
You can walk across the Forum, to arrive at Capitoline Hill.

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Directions: Located beside the Colosseum
Website: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Forum_Romanum.html

The Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the most famous and highest of the seven hills of Rome.

The existing design of the Piazza del Campidoglio and the surrounding palazzos was created by famed Renaissance artist and architect Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536 - 1546.

Michelangelo's first designs for the piazza and remodelling of the surrounding palazzos date from 1536.
In the middle, and not to Michelangelo’s liking, stood the only equestrian bronze to have survived since Antiquity, that of Marcus Aurelius. Michelangelo provided an unassuming pedestal for it. The sculpture was held in regard because it was thought to depict Emperor Constantine, the first Christian Emperor.
The bronze now in position is a modern copy, the original is in the Palazzo dei Conservatori nearby.

Built during the 13th and 14th century, the Palazzo Senatorio - Senatorial Palace, stands atop the Tabularium. It now houses the Roman city hall. Its double ramp of stairs were designed by Michelangelo. The fountain in front of the staircase features the river gods of the Tiber and the Nile as well as Dea Roma (Minerva). Its bell tower was designed by Martin Longhi the Elder and built between 1578 and 1582. Its current facade was designed by Giacomo della Porta and Girolamo Rainaldi.

Next to the older and much steeper stairs leading to the Aracoeli, Michelangelo devised a monumental wide ramped stair (the cordonata), gently and gradually ascending the hill to reach the high piazza, so that the Campidoglio resolutely turned its back on the Roman Forum that it had once commanded.
It was built to be wide enough for horse riders to ascend the hill without dismounting. The railings are topped by the statues of two Egyptian lions in black basalt at their base and the marble renditions of Castor and Pollux at their top.

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Address: Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, Italy
Website: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-capitoline-hill-and-museum.htm

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II - Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or Il Vittoriano is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy.
It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895. It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935.

The monument is built of pure white marble from Botticino, Brescia, and features majestic stairways, tall Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas.
The structure is 135 m wide and 70 m high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 m.

The monument was controversial since its construction destroyed a large area of the Capitoline Hill with a Medieval neighbourhood for its sake.
The monument itself is often regarded as pompous and too large.

The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification.

The monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, built under the statue of Italy after World War I following an idea of General Giulio Douhet. The body of the unknown soldier was chosen from amongst 11 unknown remains by Maria Bergamas of Gradisca D' Isonzo whose only child was killed during World War I and whose body was never recovered. The selected unknown was transferred from Aquileia, where the ceremony with Bergamas took place to Rome in late October to early November of 1921.

The Romans are saying that this monument is the ugliest building in Rome and maybe in all Italy, it is like wedding cake. I don't agree with them. For me as for tourist it is pompous and great building. And it is look much better at night ...

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Address: Piazza Venezia
Directions: Subway - Colosseo
Website: http://www.quirinale.it/simboli/vittoriano/a_Vittoriano.htm

In Rome you can take a picture with the Roman soldier or gladiator.

There are several people at Colosseum and at Il Vittoriano, who were dressed in costume of ancient Roman soldier or gladiator and ready to photograph with you. You can choose, what you want to wear on (casque, circlet, ...)

Of course it cost some money for you. It depends how good you with higgleing ... ;)

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Address: Rome, Piazza del Colosseo
Directions: B line Metro station Colosseo.
A line metro station Manzoni, then two stops of any tram that goes southwards, in the right direction.
Bus lines 60, 75, 85, 87,175, 810, 850, and the electric minibus 117, my favourite
Tramway lines nos 3 and 8.

The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill.
It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by spolia, the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings.

The arch is 21 m high, 25.7 m wide and 7.4 m deep. It has three archways, the central one being 11.5 m high and 6.5 m wide, the lateral archways 7.4 m by 3.4 m each. The lower part of the monument is built of marble blocks, the top (called attic) is brickwork reveted with marble. A staircase formed in the thickness of the arch is entered from a door at some height from the ground, in the end towards the Palatine Hill.

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Address: Piazza del Colosseo
Website: http://www.rome101.com/ArchConstantine/