The Colosseum was the one cultural sight I was most looking forward to visiting. And I was not disappointed. I can tell you, I was pretty swept away by it's monstrosity, but also it's beauty. It really is breathtaking!
VISIT THE COLOSSEUM
What time of day should I visit the Colosseum?
- In the morning! Definitely! Go there as soon as it opens, which is at 8:30 am. The queues are a lot shorter! Also the sun isn't as hot as it is in the afternoon. ;)
Where should I buy the tickets?
- We saw the sheer endless queues for the Colosseum as well as for the Roman Forum the day before we went and decided that we didn't want to waste our time waiting in line for 2 hours. So we bought our tickets online the night before. On the day we went, we arrived at the Colosseum at about 9:00 am and found that the line for visitors without tickets was actually shorter than the one for visitors with pre-booked tickets. Oh well, so we stood in line with the other pre-bookers. It was only later that we discovered that the two lines actually end up at the same ticket counter where you can exchange your online reservation for a real ticket or buy a ticket if you don't have one already. It didn't really matter that we actually waited in the longer pre-booked ticket line, because we only had to wait for 10 minutes, BUT we were a little bit irritated by the fact that people without a ticket were getting in faster than we were^^.
THEREFORE: If you have a pre-booked ticket but the no-ticket line is shorter, go for it because both lines end up at the same ticket counter!
- In conclusion I would say that if you are visiting on a weekday in the early morning, you could buy your ticket at the entrance
- If you are visiting on the weekend or during the very busy summer months (July, August), you should consider buying your ticket online in oder to get in faster (usually the pre-booked ticket line is a lot shorter than the no-ticket line ;) )
Is it worth booking a guided tour?
- We went in by ourselves but looking back now, I would have liked to do a guided tour of the Colosseum. The two most appealing advantages of a guided tour are that you get to see the third floor and the underground catacombs, which you cannot access by yourself. Also you get a lot more information on the Colosseum's history. So I would say that if you are truly fascinated by the Colosseum and want to learn more about it, a guided tour is the perfect option for you.
COLOSSEUM EXPERIENCE & A LITTLE HISTORY
Walking into the Colosseum for the first time is mindblowing! Stepping out of the cool shade of the colosseom arches onto the little platform on the ground floor overlooking the now exposed catacombs, the hot italian sun hits your face, you can almost hear the roman citizens cheer in their seats, heavy weapons being wielded and lions roaring ferociously. If it wasn't for all the tourists, you could almost be transported back to ancient roman times.
Ascending the unusually tall steps to the second ring (first floor) is even more breathtaking. From up here the impressive size of the arena really becomes visible. Unfortunately it is kind of hard to imagine how the Colosseum used to look like in the old days. Of course the catacombs weren't visible but covered by a wooden floor. On top of the floor was a thick layer of sand in order to absorb the fighting gladiator's blood.
The romans were said to have exotic animals appear on the floor of the Colosseum as if it was magic. A documentary team tried to get to the bottom of those rumors and went all out to build a device to lift heavy animals onto the Colosseum floor like the romans would have done. You can actually see the result in the Colosseum today. It's visible in the picture above on the low left. The lifting device is built into the narrow hallways of the underground catacombs and is built exactly like archeologists think the ancient romans did the trick. From above you can only see what looks like a trap door down to the catacombs. Watch the whole documentary on YouTube to see how it works.
It is very interesting to see how extremely far ahead the ancient Romans really were in comparison to other cultures during that time period and the extraordinarily well-planned and built Colosseum only corroborates that fact.
A visit to the largest amphitheater ever built simply is essential when in Rome ;)
THE FORO ROMANO (ROMAN FORUM)
The Roman Forum is situated just behind the Colosseum and used to be the very center of roman politics, commerce and religion. It was the center of ancient roman public life. Today there are only ruins left, but here and there a few arches and pillars are still standing.
The entrance fee for the Roman Forum, including the Palatine Hill, is built into the ticket price of the Colosseum. It's a package deal.
GET AN AUDIO GUIDE
Once you're inside, you can get Audio Guides for an additional charge if you are interested. If you just want to walk through the Forum and marvel at the ruins, that's fine, but if you want to be provided with a bit of information on what you are looking at, then those audio guides really come in handy!
Also, they are smart little things, I really like the concept of them. They are actual smartphones on which you are able to chose from various tours through the Forum. The tours are categorized by time. Meaning; there is a one-hour express tour, but you can also do a very detailed three-hour tour through the Forum. When you turn the camera of the phone on and screen your surroundings with it, it will automatically recognize the ruins and buildings around you and give you their name and further information on them. That's what I call a smart smartphone ;)
Since the smartphone audio guides also provide a map of the whole Forum (it is pretty huge), getting lost is not something you have to worry about either. It is a fun little device to play with and is totally worth the additional charge of 7€!
MONUMENTS OF THE ROMAN FORUM
Nowadays the Forum consists of still existing or reconstructed ruins and of almost vanished structures of ancient monuments.
There are two arches that withstood the centuries, the Arch of Septimus Severus and the Arch of Titus. Also three Basilicas remained until today, Basilica Aemilia, Basilica Julia and Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine.
Amongst many more, the remaining temple ruins for roman gods or emperors are for example:
Ascending the unusually tall steps to the second ring (first floor) is even more breathtaking. From up here the impressive size of the arena really becomes visible. Unfortunately it is kind of hard to imagine how the Colosseum used to look like in the old days. Of course the catacombs weren't visible but covered by a wooden floor. On top of the floor was a thick layer of sand in order to absorb the fighting gladiator's blood.
The romans were said to have exotic animals appear on the floor of the Colosseum as if it was magic. A documentary team tried to get to the bottom of those rumors and went all out to build a device to lift heavy animals onto the Colosseum floor like the romans would have done. You can actually see the result in the Colosseum today. It's visible in the picture above on the low left. The lifting device is built into the narrow hallways of the underground catacombs and is built exactly like archeologists think the ancient romans did the trick. From above you can only see what looks like a trap door down to the catacombs. Watch the whole documentary on YouTube to see how it works.
It is very interesting to see how extremely far ahead the ancient Romans really were in comparison to other cultures during that time period and the extraordinarily well-planned and built Colosseum only corroborates that fact.
A visit to the largest amphitheater ever built simply is essential when in Rome ;)
THE FORO ROMANO (ROMAN FORUM)
The Roman Forum is situated just behind the Colosseum and used to be the very center of roman politics, commerce and religion. It was the center of ancient roman public life. Today there are only ruins left, but here and there a few arches and pillars are still standing.
The entrance fee for the Roman Forum, including the Palatine Hill, is built into the ticket price of the Colosseum. It's a package deal.
GET AN AUDIO GUIDE
Once you're inside, you can get Audio Guides for an additional charge if you are interested. If you just want to walk through the Forum and marvel at the ruins, that's fine, but if you want to be provided with a bit of information on what you are looking at, then those audio guides really come in handy!
Also, they are smart little things, I really like the concept of them. They are actual smartphones on which you are able to chose from various tours through the Forum. The tours are categorized by time. Meaning; there is a one-hour express tour, but you can also do a very detailed three-hour tour through the Forum. When you turn the camera of the phone on and screen your surroundings with it, it will automatically recognize the ruins and buildings around you and give you their name and further information on them. That's what I call a smart smartphone ;)
Since the smartphone audio guides also provide a map of the whole Forum (it is pretty huge), getting lost is not something you have to worry about either. It is a fun little device to play with and is totally worth the additional charge of 7€!
MONUMENTS OF THE ROMAN FORUM
Nowadays the Forum consists of still existing or reconstructed ruins and of almost vanished structures of ancient monuments.
There are two arches that withstood the centuries, the Arch of Septimus Severus and the Arch of Titus. Also three Basilicas remained until today, Basilica Aemilia, Basilica Julia and Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine.
Amongst many more, the remaining temple ruins for roman gods or emperors are for example:
- Temple of Saturn (the roman god of wealth, agriculture, liberation and time; in the temple of Saturn at the Roman Forum, the state treasure was kept)
- Temple of Vesta (the roman goddess of hearth, home and family; her presence was symbolized by a sacred fire that burned in her temple)
- Temple of Caesar (roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar)
- Temple of Romulus (who founded the city of Rome, together with his brother Remus)
- Temple of Venus and Roma (goddesses Venus Felix, the bringer of good fortune and Roma Aeterna, goddess of eternal Rome)
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