The Colosseum

The Colosseum was and it is still being the largest and most famous Roman amphitheater. Its construction was completed during the reign of Domitian. The building was called the Flavian Amphitheater. Modification and restoration of the Colosseum have been made to the beginning of the sixth century. In the following centuries has suffered because of negligence, earthquakes and other problems. However, more than one third of the outer arches can be seen today. Internal skeleton which supports the “Cave” has remained largely intact. Unfortunately, all marble and metal decorations have disappeared.

The Colosseum has an elliptical shape, measuring about 189 m in length and 156 m in width. The exterior has 47 m high, composed of 3 floors consisting of arches and an IVth floor. Each of these three floors had at the beginning 80 of arcade. At the Colosseum’s building were used stone blocks, cement and bricks.

The fourth floor contains the Corinthian style decorations. At first, at each arch were statues, and huge iron shields decorating the fourth floor of the building between the so-called windows. There were also a kind of awnings which sustained the top floor protecting spectators from the sun. According to the studies which were made, the Colosseum could accommodate about 60 thousand people.

The indoor arena which had 85 m long and 53 m wide is just a hollow surrounded by a high wall to protect spectators from the wild animals used in fights. The floor was made of wood and was covered with sand to absorb the blood spilled in battles. Under this were found some mechanisms that sustained it. The floor was covering underground tunnels where once, there were imprisoned the animals and gladiators.
The Colosseum is a marvel of engineering because there are so many stairs and exits, so that the entire arena could be emptied in just 10 minutes.
Surely this is an impressive building which represents of the main attractions of Italy.