Exploring Roma - The Coliseum

We decided to visit the Coliseum first, as my mom only has two real days in the city, and the Vatican is closed on Saturday and Sunday. FABULOUS. So, we checked out one of Rome's oldest monuments. All I have to say about this is W-O-W. It's wild to think about the things that went on in this building, but it's also amazing to know you're standing on hundreds of years of history.

OK...I have to admit it. I'm pretty impressed with myself with this picture. Does it look like a postcard, or what? Anyway...this was taken before we got in line to buy tickets. It was surreal standing in front of it...I still cannot believe I saw this!


Here is a shot of the inside of the Coliseum. The boxes where the wealthy people sat can still be seen, but much of it is deteriorating.


Here is a picture of Ainsley inside the Coliseum before she started to complain that it was boring and she wanted to go home. Great.


I believe this might be the only proof my mother was actually on this trip! I guess we were both too busy taking pictures of Ainsley!

They have the underground tunnels and rooms (where they used to keep the animals and the gladiators) uncovered almost like an archaeological dig, so you can stand above them and see down into the spaces. It's grown over with ivy and weeds, but it's still stunning. We walked around the entire facility and went down to the lowest level they'll allow (still not underground) and checked out what we could.


Here is a shot of some of the cells where they held both gladiators and animals. It struck me that they were REALLY small...and they probably held dozens of men each.


This was taken from the "first floor" level and shows some of the stairways and passages in the lowest level of the building.



Another shot of the same area. As far as I can tell this is the main corridor of the basement area where the gladiators would have been lined up to go to the arena level.

Perhaps this is really silly, but it struck me that as much as my feet hurt, I was wearing shoes with thousands of years of technology put into them above and beyond what the average spectator did in the glorious days of Rome. My feet hurt bad enough...either those women had some serious foot problems, or they were tough ladies.


The cross you see in this photo is rumored to mark the location of the caesar's/emperor's box, but there is actually no proof this is true.


Here is the same box from the inside. It's easy to see that in its day this would have been a very impressive entrance.


Crumbling pieces of the facade and interior could be found all over the facility. Some of them were kept behind locked gates, but large pieces like this (I assume from broken columns?) were out in the walkways and could be leaned against for rest. Ainsley loved jumping up on them.


And, finally, Ainsley's favorite part of the Coliseum...the stray cat that roamed around the entire time we were there. It's a good thing I didn't have to pay to get her into this tour.