The Colosseum | Rome, Italy
Over 7 million people visit the Colosseum each year. This year, I was one of them.
Once known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Colosseum was built between 72 AD and 80 AD as an entertainment venue. It could hold at least 50,000 people, with some estimates putting the capacity at greater than 80,000. Here, the ancient Romans could enjoy gladiator fights, animal hunts, mock naval battles, and executions (because nothing says entertainment like people dying). These shows only occurred about a dozen times per year, and were free to attend.
Nowadays, even though the Colosseum is no longer host to gladiators and lions, it still draws crowds. Unfortunately, it is no longer free to enter. Tickets start at €18 for adults, but can be even more expensive if you want a guide or if you want to visit the arena floor. But the ticket does include entrance to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (covered in a separate blog post).
So, is the Colosseum worth visiting? Short answer: yes. Long answer: YES! Do you really want to be the guy that goes to Rome and doesn’t sees the Colosseum? Of course you have to see it! (Although I suppose you don’t necessarily need to go in it. Some people may be just as content only viewing it from the outside. You can decide for yourself, but I would say that I felt it was worth the cost, and worth seeing from the inside)
It’s easy to get to and from the Colosseum using public transportation. There are bus and metro stops nearby, and it’s easy to figure out what stop to get off at because they’re helpfully titled “Colosseo.” You could also probably walk depending on where your hotel is— the nice thing about walking through Rome is that you see a lot of interesting things, like fountains and statues. Taxis are also an option (though more expensive), especially if you want to conserve your energy (trust me, you’ll need it), your hotel isn’t near a bus or metro stop, or you don’t want to sweat through your clothes because you packed with the plan to wear everything twice.
Now, to get into my experience:
We opted for a guided tour, which I highly recommend if you like fun facts and knowing what you’re looking at. Our guide was informative, entertaining, and (most importantly) didn’t lose any of us. The one downside? You go at the group’s pace, which means you might breeze past what you think is a perfect photo op while stopping for ten minutes to admire a rock. (But hey, it was probably an important rock.)
The first angle of the Colosseum we saw, approaching it from the street where we met our tour, was this:
So getting into some better angles:
Here, you can see the Colosseum looking more like itself: at its full height, iconic, and surrounded by tourists. The photo was taken around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was pretty busy then, with a line to get in, but we didn’t actually go in the colosseum until closer to 5:00, which was still busy, but a bit less so, and without a line to enter (except for the one that was formed by the roughly 10 people in our tour group).
The above photo shows the side of the Colosseum you enter through, by the white tents. In ancient Rome, however (almost?) all of the ground floor arches (of which there are 80) served as an entrance. There were roman numerals above each arch, and everyone was assigned a door to use, streamlining the entrance process.
You can see the roman numerals better in this photo if you look at the bottom row of arches. As a fun fact, the upper arches used to hold statues that have since been looted:
Now, moving on to the inside, we started on the arena floor to get the gladiator-level views. Part of the floor is open so you can see the hypogeum, AKA the underground (see the following photo):
And here’s a photo looking up at the stands from the arena floor. Just imagine how a gladiator would feel looking up and seeing everyone watch them, and the building looming over them on all sides:
As I mentioned, it is an added charge to be able to stand on the arena floor (about €6 more). Technically, most if not all of what we saw could be seen from a different angle from the first floor. However nothing compared to the experience of being in the middle of the Colosseum, with the walls rising high around you on all sides— and I think that is worth the added cost. If you do want to experience the arena floor, booking in advance is generally recommended.
Now, moving onto the second floor. In Ancient Rome, where a person sat was generally determined by their class, with the emperor and senators on the lowers level, and the lowest class citizens on the highest. However, now that there are no shows to see, I think the upper floors provided nicer views on the inside.
From the second floor, you can also peek out and have a birds-eye view of the surrounding area and structures, such as the Arch of Constantine, as well as the clusters of tourists trying to get the perfect Instagram-worthy selfies:
Finally, we went down the to first floor, which is where you exit— assuming you can find it. It took us an embarrassingly long time to. Here’s what the colosseum looks like from the first floor.
As a final fun fact, the holes that you may have noticed in photos (and you’ll certainly see better in the following photo) were man-made by people trying to dig out the iron spikes used to build the Colosseum. Luckily, the Colosseum doesn’t need them to stay standing:
In conclusion, the Colosseum is not to be missed. It’s a wonder of architecture, a place of history, an impressive structure built nearly 2000 years ago that has withstood the test of time, looters, and earthquakes.
Have you been to the Colosseum? What were your impressions? Let me know in the comments.
Sources:
“24 Mind-Blowing Facts about the Roman Colosseum (with Pictures).” The Colosseum, 29 May 2025, www.thecolosseum.org/facts/.
Wakeman, Gregory. “5 Bloody Spectacles at Ancient Rome’s Colosseum.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 28 May 2025, www.history.com/articles/colosseum-gladiators-ancient-rome-spectacles.
Walks of Italy. “5 Roman Colosseum Facts You Might Have Wrong.” Walks of Italy, 21 May 2025, www.walksofitaly.com/blog/art-culture/roman-colosseum-facts.
(And also my tour guide, who’s name I forget)
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