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Colosseum
- The Flavian Amphitheatre |
| The
Colosseum is such an important historical and cultural monument,
it would be inconceivable to come to Rome as a tourist and not visit
it. You can imagine that it is on almost everyone's itinerary when
they come to Rome for the first time. It is the one guaranteed building
to be seen in any non-Italian film set in Rome. It is hard to believe
that the land on which it was built was originally a marsh which
was fed by a stream that still exists today and can be found under
San Clemente. When Nero built his palace, the "Domus Aurea"
("Golden House"), he had the area flooded to provide an
artificial lake to add to the beauty of the surroundings of his
new palace. After the fall of Nero the emperor Vespasian, wanting
to refocus Roman interests and to help the populus forget about
Nero, had the area filled in order to build the largest freestanding
structure that the world had ever known at the time. Thus was the
construction of the Colosseum commenced by the side of the hill
(Colle) that had an Isis temple (Iseum).
The Flavian Amphitheatre (as it was then known) was inaugurated
by Vespasian's son, the emperor Titus, in 80 CE. The Colosseum was
an elliptical stadium, 188 metres along its longest axis and 40
metres high, that could hold 50,000 people. People came here to
see gladiatorial combat, or to watch criminals being attacked by
wild animals. The arena was even flooded at various times in order
to stage naval battles! It was the emperor Honorius who put an end
to gladiatorial duels in 404 CE. The animal spectacles were gone
by the sixth century. In the late middle ages the Colosseum was
turned into a fortress by the Frangipani. During the Renaissance
it was quarried for its huge blocks of Roman travertine that were
used in numerous buildings around Rome including Palazzo Venezia
and Saint Peter's Basilica. This is the reason that the Colosseum
today lacks half of its outer ring of stone |
| The
Roman Forum - Foro Romano |
| The
Roman Forum is located in a valley that is between the Palatine
hill and the Capitoline hill. It originally was a marsh, but the
Romans drained the area and turned it into a center of political
and social activity. The Forum was the marketplace of Rome and also
the business district and civic center. It was expanded to include
temples, a senate house and law courts. When the Roman Empire fell,
the Forum became forgotten, buried and was used as a cattle pasture
during the Middle Ages.
Much of the forum has been destroyed. Columns and stone blocks are
all that remain of some temples. The arch of Titus and the arch
of Septimius Severus still stand and are in good shape. Like many
other ancient Roman buildings, stone blocks have been removed from
the Forum and used to build nearby churches and palaces. Originally
the area of the Forum was humid and covered in grass, as it was
not suitable for construction. A necropolis has been found, dating
from the 10th century BCE, but otherwise the area doesn't seem to
have been used much. This changed in the 7th century with the construction
of the Cloaca Maxima. This sewer system was based on a natural stream,
which was enclosed and covered to drain the area, a sign that the
settlements on the Palatine Hill was spreading into the valley. |
| Fontana
di Trevi - Trevi Fountain |
The
Fontana di Trevi or Trevi Fountain is the most famous and arguably
the most beautiful fountain in all of Rome. This impressive monument
dominates the small Trevi square located in the Quirinale district.
The central figure of the fountain, in front of a large niche,
is Neptune, god of the sea. He is riding a chariot in the shape
of a shell, pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is guided
by a Triton. One of the horses is calm and obedient, the other
one restive.
They
symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea. On the left hand side
of Neptune is a statue representing Abundance, the statue on the
right represents Salubrity. Above the sculptures are bas-reliefs,
one of them shows Agrippa, the girl after whom the aqueduct was
named. The water at the bottom of the fountain represents the
sea. Legend has it you will return to Rome if you throw a coin
into the water. You should toss it over your shoulder with your
back to the fountain.
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| The
Pantheon |
The
Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world.
It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic
Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded
temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda.
Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room.
The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical
dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on
each side are three additional recesses, alternately rectangular
and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired
monolithic columns. The only natural light enters through an unglazed
oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors
to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate
the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles.
The dome is constructed of stepped rings of solid concrete with
less and less density as lighter aggregate (pumice) is used, diminishing
in thickness to about 1.2 m (4 feet) at the edge of the oculus.
The dome rests on a cylinder of masonry walls 6 m (20 feet). Hidden
voids and the interior recesses hollow out this construction,
so that it works less as a solid mass and more like three continuous
arcades which correspond to the three tiers of relieving arches
visible on the building exterior. Originally, these exterior walls
were faced with colored marbles.
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