ITALY - Best of Europe 2014 - page 936

theaters together to create a freestanding amphitheater. The outside (where slender cypress
trees stand today) was decorated with a 100-foot-tall bronze statue of Nero that gleamed in
thesunlight.Inalaterage,thecolossalstructurewasnicknameda“coloss-eum,”thewonder
of its age. It could accommodate 50,000 roaring fans (100,000 thumbs).
This 2,000-year-old building is the classic example of Roman engineering. The Romans
pioneered the use of concrete and the rounded arch, which enabled them to build on this tre-
mendous scale. The exterior is a skeleton of 3.5 million cubic feet of travertine stone. (Each
of the pillars flanking the ground-level arches weighs five tons.) It took 200 ox-drawn wag-
onsshuttling back andforthevery dayforfouryears just tobringthe stone here fromTivoli.
TheRomansstackedstoneblocks(withoutmortar)intotheshapeofanarch,supportedtem-
porarily by wooden scaffolding. Finally, they wedged a keystone into the top of the arch—it
notonlykept the arch fromfalling, it could bear even more weight above. Ironpegsheld the
larger stones together—notice the small holes that pockmark the sides.

Rome at a Glance

▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ Colosseum Huge stadium where gladiators fought. Hours: Daily 8:30 until

one hour before sunset: April-Sept until 19:15, Oct until 18:30, off-season closes as
early as 16:30. See here .

▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ Roman Forum Ancient Rome's main square, with ruins and grand arches.

Hours: Same hours as Colosseum. See here .

▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ Pantheon The defining domed temple. Hours: Mon-Sat 8:30-19:30, Sun

9:00-18:00, holidays 9:00-13:00, closed for Mass Sat at 17:00 and Sun at 10:30. See
here .

▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ St . Peter'sBasilica Mostimpressivechurchonearth,withMichelangelo's Pi-

età and dome. Hours: Church—daily April-Sept 7:00-19:00, Oct-March 7:00-18:00,
often closed Wed mornings; dome—daily April-Sept 8:00-18:00, Oct-March
8:00-16:45. See here .

▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ Vatican Museum Four miles of the finest art of Western civilization, culmin-

ating in Michelangelo's glorious Sistine Chapel. Hours: Mon-Sat 9:00-18:00. Closed
on religious holidays and Sun, except last Sun of the month (open 9:00-14:00). May
be open some Fri nights by online reservation only. Hours are subject to change. See
here .