New museum tells the history of the Colosseum

The Colosseum is the most beloved monument on earth, Italian newspapers proudly wrote earlier this week. Indeed, on a list published by TripAdvisor, the symbol of Rome is number 1 worldwide with a total of 7,4 million reservations in 2018, 400.000 more than last year. It is followed by the Vatican Museums, the statue of Liberty and the Louvre. The Anfiteatro Flavio, as its official name is, is becoming more popular every year.

This is also because the monument is becoming increasingly accessible. Former closed areas are now open to the public. Thanks to a reform of the previous government, the Colosseum is now part of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, which also includes the nearby Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Domus Aurea (Golden House) of Emperor Nero.

Unique graffito: man with child in the Colosseum

With one ticket – €12 full price; €7,50 for those entitled to a discount; Valid for two days – you can visit everything at once without leaving the museum grounds. The Colosseum itself now houses exhibitions such as those of the Severi, the bloodthirsty imperial family that ruled the Empire from 193-235, which will run until the end of August 2019.

Museum within a museum

The latest addition is a permanent exhibition of the history of the Colosseum itself under the title The Colosseum tells itself (The Colosseum tells itself). This museum within the museum opened on December 21 on the second gallery, in the open air like everything in the monument. The interesting thing about this is that a large part is devoted to the history of the complex in the period after Antiquity.

Impression of the public gallery in the Colosseum

Opened by Emperor Titus in AD 80, the Colosseum has served as a theater for gladiator fights, sporting events and executions for four and a half centuries. It was soon over after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The last documented Games took place in 523 under the Goth king Theodoric.

Design Carlo Fontana for church in the Colosseum (1696)

But after that, the immense building was inhabited for another thousand years. from the 9^e to the 12^e century, an entire village was formed under the ancient arches, with houses, shops, stables, warehouses, vineyards and chapels. In 1130, the Frangipane family of barons seized the Colosseum, fortifying it as a stronghold in the incessant struggle with other Roman potentates.

a fierce earthquake in 1349 put an end to that. The Colosseum became too dangerous for habitation – even though it was home in the 16^e century – and the regularly falling rocks were sold for reuse. A new earthquake in 1808, when the Colosseum's artistic and historical value was now recognized, necessitated the construction of two hefty buttresses that have kept the monument standing ever since.

Two millennia of history

In the new museum, two millennia of history are summarized in more than 400 objects: capitals and columns that fell during earthquakes in the 5^e, 6^e in 9. ^e century; weights with which objects were lifted from the cellars of the amphitheater; oil lamps, pitchers, dice, coins, oyster shells, plum kernels, coins, remains of looms and other objects of everyday life.

Archaeological finds in the Colosseum: Lucernae (oil lamps)

In addition, reconstructions and models give a good idea of what the Colosseum must have looked like in all those years:

The seats in the theater divided according to rank and position;
The medieval fields and shops within the four-storey ring of galleries;
The fortress of the Frangipane;
The memorial stone that Mussolini placed at the base of the monument in 1926, and so on.

A wonderful addition to a top monument that will undoubtedly attract even more visitors in 2019!