Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It's a huge time-saver to buy your ticket for the inside of the Colosseum at the
Palatine Hill, where lines are generally much shorter. You can then bypass the long
lines here, or at least get into a shorter line to go inside. Only a few years ago, the
Colosseum was free to the public, but with the addition of museum space on the
second floor (complete with a shiny new elevator), visitors now have to pay. Start
by walking onto the wooden platform that partially covers the center and look
back at the perimeter walls. The stadium could hold as many as 87,000 specta-
tors, by some counts, and seats were sectioned on three levels, dividing the peo-
ple by rank and gender. There were 80 entrances to the Colosseum and historians
say the massive crowds could be seated within a few minutes. Most events were
free, but all spectators had to hold a membership card to enter.
The Colosseum was built as a venue for gladiator fights against animals and
slaves, but when the Roman empire fell it was abandoned and eventually over-
grown with wild and exotic plants that are believed to have come from wild ani-
mals, imported from Africa for the gladiator fights. You'll notice on the top of the
“good side,” as locals call it, that there are a few remaining supports that once held
the canvas awning that covered the stadium during rain or for the summer heat.
During the Middle Ages it became a palace, and then a multihousing complex of
sorts, with structures attached to its sides and top. Much of the ancient travertine
that covered its outside was used for palaces like the nearby Palazzo Venezia and
the Palazzo Cancelleria near the Campo de' Fiori.
Now the Colosseum is one of the most visited sights in Rome, and it has lately
become a concert venue, with performers like Paul McCartney and Elton John
setting up giant stages on the Via dei Fori Imperiali to perform free concerts for
up to a million people. It is also a holy site, and the Pope generally delivers his
Good Friday Mass here.
You can easily tour the whole of the Colosseum in less than an hour unless
there is a particularly spectacular exhibit at the museum inside.
COLLE OPPIO
The gentle hill just behind the Colosseum known as the Colle Oppio holds one
of Rome's most controversial treasures. Nero's
Domus Aurea (Golden House)
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(Via della Domus Aurea;
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06-39967700;
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5 adults,
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2.50 seniors and students,
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1.50 mandatory booking fee; Wed-Mon 9am-7:45pm, reservations mandatory)
was built on the singed site of ruins left over after the famous fire of
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which the eccentric emperor allegedly set himself. Originally the villa was a three-
story building dripping with gold on the outside and plastered with mother-of-
pearl and precious gems on the inside. That which was not bejeweled was instead
frescoed by famous artists of the day. The fountains on the grounds and inside the
palace courtyards flowed with perfume, and one of the rooms had an enormous
revolving ceiling painted with zodiac signs and stars. There were man-made lakes
and forests surrounding a 35m (116-ft.) statue (in gold, of course) of Nero him-
self. It was as opulent as Rome ever was—nothing before it had been so expen-
sively decorated. But Nero was despised by the Romans and when he died in
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68, the next emperor, Vespasian, set to work destroying and burying the palace.
The Colosseum was built on the spot where he drained Nero's largest lake. The
ruins were visited by Renaissance artists like Raphael, who were inspired by the
frescoes. The site you see today officially opened in 1999, after many years of
excavation. There are still more than 30 rooms under the earth left to discover.
