Colosseum - Interior

The self guided portion of our visit continued above ground. I neglected to take a photo but the stairs leading to the upper level were steep!

Much of the original finishes within the Colosseum are long gone, including all of the marble facades. Most were looted by invading armies looking to build memorials of themselves, or by the Roman Catholic Church who repurposed lots of bronze and marble to build churches.

We saw a recreation of one of the trap doors used to move things into the arena, as well as some models showing what the Colosseum might have looked like intact (although the models are missing the paint and marble colors which would have alleviated the current stark look). We also saw an artist's rendering of what it might have looked like long after it was out of use but also long before any restorations (which included digging out the underground which had been filled in at least twice).Read more