Today we walked up to the site of the old Baths, which were of massive size, let me tell you! They could accommodate three thousand people at one time, and covered a huge area. Today a church stands on the site, Santa Maria degli Angeli. Inside, it feels almost as large as St. Peter's.
At that point we got on one of the tourist double-decker buses, rode around briefly and then got off in order to meet the tour we'd signed up for at the Colosseum. It was a special one in that we got to go into the pits as well as up on the top level... both areas not generally open to the public.
Here are some pictures from the walk and the tour:
This is a bit of preserved ruin near the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument
Vittorio Emmanuel, which looks like a gigantic wedding cake to me
Walking towards the Colosseum
Beginning the dungeon tour
Standing in the dungeons... now the guide is talking about the animals that were brought in in cages and the pulley systems that transported them from one place to the next. Note the cross erected for the copious amounts of animals and people who died here
Part of the waterway system which helped to flood the arena (before the rooms were built) so that mock ship battles could be staged
Now we are up on the middle level, so you can see the whole arena more clearly
The platform is built to show where the arena floor would have been
All of those rooms and alleyways are to house the animals and people acting in the spectacles. Some of these were criminals accused of crimes and sentenced to die; they were given over to lions
And now from the highest tier currently available:
Tomorrow night we will tour through it after dark for another glimpse, hopefully with the full moon in evidence.
At that point we got on one of the tourist double-decker buses, rode around briefly and then got off in order to meet the tour we'd signed up for at the Colosseum. It was a special one in that we got to go into the pits as well as up on the top level... both areas not generally open to the public.
Here are some pictures from the walk and the tour:
This is a bit of preserved ruin near the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument
Vittorio Emmanuel, which looks like a gigantic wedding cake to me
Walking towards the Colosseum
Standing in the dungeons... now the guide is talking about the animals that were brought in in cages and the pulley systems that transported them from one place to the next. Note the cross erected for the copious amounts of animals and people who died here
Part of the waterway system which helped to flood the arena (before the rooms were built) so that mock ship battles could be staged
Now we are up on the middle level, so you can see the whole arena more clearly
The platform is built to show where the arena floor would have been
All of those rooms and alleyways are to house the animals and people acting in the spectacles. Some of these were criminals accused of crimes and sentenced to die; they were given over to lions
And now from the highest tier currently available:
Tomorrow night we will tour through it after dark for another glimpse, hopefully with the full moon in evidence.
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