I went on a solo backpacking trip to Italy for 3 days which began with Rome and ended with Milan and the first place I visited in Rome was Colosseum. Colosseum - I had seen it drawings, photos and videos since childhood as I grew up. It was one of the important topics in my uni days in art history. Honestly till 2014, I had absolutely no clue I'd be able to travel to Europe. But then there I was with my Schengen Visa and there I saw one of the Medieval 7 Wonders of the World with my own eyes!!! I reached Rome through the Ciampano Airport which is located a bit away from the city which caters to the low cost airlines. From there a airport transfer bus left me at Roma Termini which is the main railway station at Rome. I took the 1 day transport pass and my first destination was Colosseum. The Colosseo Metro is bang in front of the monument. It was one humongous structure that filled my eyes as I got out of the station!!! I couldn't have asked for more... This was built by Vespasian in 72 AD and was inaugurated in 80AD and the cost of construction came from the loots of Jewish war. It was a super structure for the era with a height of 157ft and circumference of 1788ft. Covering an area of 620ft x 513ft, and central arena of 287ft x 180ft, it comfortably fits a football field. With 4 floors, varying in height from 34ft to 47ft, and each floor having 80 arches, it could hold 50,000 spectators at any given point of time. The first row of seating was at 15ft from the arena floor. It was not just a 4 floored building but also has a under ground floor & tunnels that held prisoners and animals. This was in active use till 6th C CE after which it went to disuse and got damaged in earthquakes and got quarried for other constructions. However the ruins of its outermost wall can be still seen on the other side of the road!! I chose not to get into the Colosseum to save time to explore other places. Just a few steps from it was the Arch of Constantine. This was built in 315CE by Constantine I. This was built to commemorate Constantine’s victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Though its big at 21m height & 25m width, its size is eaten up by Colosseum. There is a huge inscription in the top part of the arch that mentions his victory. There are 10 medallions of which 8 were originally from the Hadrian Monument which belonged to the 1st & 2nd C CE which do not exist today. There are 8 human sculptures on the topmost panel and 6 reliefs as well. Just below the medallion are some friezes. There are also some panels in the walls of the arches. Though the Arch is open to view any time, free of cost, its not possible to go into the arches or touch them. There's a fencing all around it.A lot more on the places I saw in Rome and rest of backpacking across Italy coming up. Stay tuned. In the meantime check out these Europe Tour Packages too!
To Get There:
Nearest Metro Station: Colosseo
Entry Ticket to Colosseum (combined with Palantine Hill): €12.00
Free entry during first Sunday of every month.
Here are some tips:
There are way too many sites that sell tickets for entry and I had a tough time to figure out which is real and which is fake, so let me make your life easier - Official Colosseum Tickets by CoopCulture At any given point of time there can only 3000 people inside the monument so its pretty much impossible to get the ticket there. So pre-book as early as possible.
The best way to explore Rome is by taking the 1 day transport pass. Though Vatican is a separate nation and not a part of Rome, don't worry, for all practical purposes, the Roman Visa and this transport pass is enough to access Vatican.
Water costs soooo much! Half a litre of water costs 2 Euros anywhere here. Wherever you're staying, try to fill up your bottles there before you set your foot out.
