Colosseum at night

Partial floodlighting of the Colosseum at night, circa 1970s. Rome's principal tourist

attraction is still a fabulous place to visit, augmented now by a museum, dedicated to

Eros, that provides a wealth of information about it's construction, usage, etc., and with

the below-arena passages (hypogeum) open to visitors. Built in AD 72-80 out of

travertine limestone, concrete and volcanic rock (tuff), it is the world's largest surviving

amphitheatre, originally holding an estimated 50-80,000 spectators for the bloody games,

exhibitions and executions that happened here. The arena itself has been partially

reconstructed, and is also now open to visitors, but without the wild animals that would

tear them apart.

Partial floodlighting of the Colosseum at night, circa 1970s. Rome's principal tourist attraction is

still a fabulous place to visit, augmented now by a museum, dedicated to Eros, that provides

a wealth of information about it's construction, usage, etc., and with the below-arena

passages (hypogeum) open to visitors. Built in AD 72-80 out of travertine limestone, concrete

and volcanic rock (tuff), it is the world's largest surviving amphitheatre, originally holding an

estimated 50-80,000 spectators for the bloody games, exhibitions and executions that

happened here. The arena itself has been partially reconstructed, and is also now open to

visitors, but without the wild animals that would tear them apart.