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The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

TripBlog
TripBlog
Sep 20, 2019

Catalogue

  • Construction
  • Purchasing Tickets
  • Inside the Colosseum
  • Must-see things inside
  • Combination Tickets, Free-entry Days and Facilities
  • Food and Beverages near the place
  • Getting Around
  • Show More

The Flavian Amphitheatre, also known as the Roman Colosseum, is the largest amphitheater that has ever been built on the earth. The structure is situated in the heart of Rome and is considered one of the greatest wonders the world has ever seen. The Colosseum is considered to be one of the best-maintained ruins from the Roman Empire. The remains of the structure date back to the 1st century, in around 72 AD, when the Roman Empire was at its heights, and Emperor Vespasian ordered the construction of it. At any given time, the Colosseum was capable of seating about 80 thousand people for events and other things.

The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

The Colosseum of Rome has 80 entrances, and is undoubtedly huge (largest amphitheater in the world)! It might happen that once you enter it, you may not be able to grasp the vastness of it, as the oval architecture makes the structure look really compact and cosy from the inside. The height of the structure is 48m, and it spans over an area of 6 acres in its totality. The place is so popular, that if you search ‘Rome’ on Google, more than 90 percent of the pictures you see are of the Colosseum. Since the place was used for various shows and spectacles, it has 36 trap doors to assist in the smooth showbiz functions of the place. One of the trap doors has recently been reconstructed as it was damaged over the years badly.

The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

The construction of the structure was completed in less than 10 years of time. Emperor Vespasian designed and started the construction of the Colosseum, and then his son Titus took over and got the job done. It is said that more than 60,000 Jewish slaves were made to work every single day to get the construction of the place completed in such a short span of less than one decade. The Roman Empire had built the Colosseum as a gift for the people of Rome, so as to bring sources of entertainment and bring people together. The structure lived on to be called as a lasting symbol of the Empire of Rome.

The next thing we come to is booking tickets to the place. There really are many options which one can consider. For example, the first way could be to book tickets online. It can be regarded as a simple and easy choice because it saves one from the trouble of getting into long queues and stuff. Also, by booking tickets online, one can get it printed out easily and instantly, or otherwise one has to wait for the service to send the tickets by postal means. Once one gets this online printed ticket, it just needs to be scanned by a staff member at this tourist attraction on the visit day.

The other way of getting a ticket is the original classic of getting to the ticket desk when one goes to visit (it’s got long queues, though). You can go to ticket offices apart from the main ticket desk, located at many spots near the place. If one gets any of these advance tickets, the waiting time in queues gets considerably shortened. Examples of such ticket offices could be the Via di San Gregorio, or Largo Salara Vecchia, etc. without such advance ticket, might have to wait for around an hour or so in the humid outside weather.

An alternative option is that you can set out with the help of a tour operator. There are many tour operators who have pre-designed tour sets for people who are visiting on a time crunch. Be it tickets, or stays, or transportation, these operators will have everything sorted out for you with decently priced packages. Mostly there are city tours which include all kinds of entry tickets, and you get to skip the long queues along with exclusive access to certain spots as well.

Then we come to what all can be seen inside this place after one gets in. It is unarguably vast and has a lot of elements to it. What happens with first-time visitors is that they get overwhelmed because of the vastness of the Colosseum and the huge amount of crowd inside. So, a good option would be to hire tour guides to the place, who can craftily navigate you through the various aspects and elements of this historic ruin, while giving you all pre-requisite background knowledge and pointing out simple but important details which the first-time visitors would miss.

The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

The first thing which comes is the arena floor. This was the spot where everything actually happened. A view from here across and around will depict what the gladiators would be seeing from that spot, high stands on all four sides give a true sense of how big the Roman Colosseum is. The next thing is the hypogeum which was mentioned earlier. This was that level below the ground where the animals, fighters, prisoners were held before all public events and were released from there through gates that led to the arena floor.

The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

The first and the second tier of the place are accessible to the general public now. Those were the spots where the general public of Rome sat and watched events from.

The third, fourth, and fifth tiers are collectively called the belvedere area. This area has been opened recently and can be accessed through special tours, with extra costs. However, that experience would be worth it as the views from there are spectacular, and the vibe is inexplicable, yet exciting. You can get unobstructed views of the entire amphitheater right down to the floor, and views beyond the upper limits into the city. Travel experts say that one should visit this place twice, once during the day and then at night too. Now, this may sound weird considering the ticket fares and arrangements, but it could be worth it.

You would not want to miss any part of this wonder of the world, as it deserves to be looked at during both times, as the vibe and feel are different during different times of the day. A helpful suggestion would be to buy combination tickets, as they lead to shorter queues. These tickets can be bought at the counters of the Palatine Hill, which is a short while away from the amphitheater. There would be two kinds of queues when you visit this place, the one where people are buying tickets, and one where security check is going on. So if someone has an advance ticket booked, he will only have to stand in one queue out of the two, which is the security check.

The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

The place has an airport type security checking protocol, for the security has been considerably increased recently due to national concerns, and the queues get really long during the times of holidays and festivals. Small backpacks or hand baggage are allowed inside the amphitheater, but one is not allowed to carry heavy luggage. As suggested by common sense too, items like firecrackers, knives, glass bottles, weapons, etc. are also not allowed inside the amphitheater. Visitors can bring water bottles, but they have to empty it before entering the place.

There is a fountain inside the premises, from where drinking water can be filled if one wants to. As an observed general trend, it is best to visit the place after 3 pm in the afternoon, as at that time the visit would be less hectic due to the reduced number of visitor crowds. A pro-tip - if you want to save on your travel, the Colosseum releases dates on their website on which the entry to the place is free of cost. Earlier, the case was that the entry was free of cost on every first Sunday of the month, but that has changed from 2019.

On the free days, the rules of reservation don’t apply, and it becomes a matter of first-come-first-enter as long as the cap of 3000 people inside the premise at a time is taken care of. So, use the free days of visit only if you think that you have sufficient time to wait or stand in the queue, as a lot of people want to get in on the free days. Once you are inside, always remember to take care of your belongings while inside as the place would be crowded and petty crimes like pickpocketing could take place. So, it is better to be aware so that the excursion does not turn into a bad trip.

Other things to keep in mind would be that selfie sticks are banned inside the premises, so there is no use of bringing them. Then one must also realize that the inside is going to have a lot of stairs, so a better idea would be to be in comfortable footwear, and maybe hats to protect oneself from the direct sun rays in the middle of the day. The amphitheater does not have many facilities, but it does have toilets on site.

After long hours of exploring this place, one does need to relax. What is great is that there are multiple options of eating and relaxing near the amphitheatre, at walking distances. Some suggestions include places like the Liciano Luzzi Trattoria. This place is at a short, five-minute walk from the site, and is known for its pizzas. The local Roman cuisine can also be tasted at this cute bistro-like eatery. It has got classic wood-oven pizzas and delicious pasta variations. Sometimes you may have to wait outside due to crowding, but that is just because the place serves really awesome food, and hence the popularity.

If you are a connoisseur of hot beverages like tea, the Café-Café is just the place for you. It has got more than 40 options of herbal teas which one can choose. They serve varieties of other beverages like fruit smoothies that really soothe your system after a long day in the heat. The place is just around the corner from the Colosseum and has an ambience that is quite casual & comfortable. Also it is not that loud, so can be considered as a perfect escape from the noisy buzz of the vicinity.

The Colosseum is situated in central Rome and is well-connected with other attractions and amenities around the city. The nearest metro station is just at a stone’s throw, and it takes about one minute to reach there on foot. Even though people think that the metro service in Rome isn’t the best c

The Colosseum: Everything You Need to Know

hoice to travel in the city, but at least it connects all the major tourist attractions, so the visitors can take note of that. It might be possible that on certain days the regular vehicular traffic is forbidden in the city, or in certain areas of it. So, it is advised to plan your trip accordingly and consider walking/ cycling to explore the city. Taxi services like Uber are available in the city and make commuting easier. The city also has a number of bus stops all around, and one can get hop-on/ hop-off buses if one wants to cover more of the city in a shorter period of time.

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