All posts tagged Colosseum
Italian street scenes: football field near Rome's Colosseum
Rome is a city of infinite surprises, romance and even squalor. But it’s ancient roots and iconic status reveal why it’s the world’s “eternal city”. Today we bring you Roman street scenes in the form of this football field out the back of the Colosseum. Perhaps the most famous Italian icon the world knows, the Colosseum is the backdrop to days of soccer matches with big emotions played out on a small scale.
The Colle Oppio football field looks onto the south corner of the Colosseum and frequently hosts matches for Rome’s international students and multicultural citizens. The field occupies one of Rome’s famous seven hills, in an area which is only now being rezoned under urban regulations.
If you’re interested in seeing gladiatorial South American football matches on a small scale and want to explore this corner of Rome, the Colle Oppio football field is the place to be on a Sunday. During the week, it’s a quiet spot with a tree the only witness to the weekend’s passion. There is also a basketball court nearby and all in the shadow of the Colosseum; proving that Rome is host to many urban scenes and is not just the tourist city we often think it is.
Continue reading: Italian street scenes: football field near Rome's Colosseum
Luxury hotels in Rome: Gladiatori Palazzo Manfredi hotel, near the Colosseum
With its five star rooms and top-notch service, the Palazzo Manfredi hotel in the heart of Rome is an oasis of luxury and comfort which will make your holidays an affair to remember. From its windows guests can enjoy breathtaking views of the Colosseum and the famous Imperial forums while at the hotel’s restaurant, the renowned Aroma, they can enjoy exquisite dishes and superb wine. For more information click here.
Continue reading: Luxury hotels in Rome: Gladiatori Palazzo Manfredi hotel, near the Colosseum
Colosseum on fire by Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz
This amazing video shows the special effects of an optical illusion: the Colosseum on fire by two artists, Pio Diaz and Thyra Hilden. The video exhibition was on show for only three nights and was commissioned by Italy’s arts minister to demonstrate and reflect on the “fragility and transitory nature of manmade construction”. As you can see in the video, the Colosseum on Fire effect is a dramatic one.
It’s part of a series of exhibits called “City on Fire” which are also taking place in other famous European locations, including the Trevi Fountain also in Rome. The idea that the Colosseum could really burn to the ground might help garner support for the 23-million euro restoration project that is underway. As we already revealed though, the brand value of the Colosseum far outstrips any money required to restore it though, and Rome shows once again that its ancient monuments can also be avant garde.
Colosseum brand value at 90 billion euros: the Colosseum vs Coca Cola
Rome’s Colosseum has more than meets the eye. Not just a world heritage monument and one of Italy’s biggest international icons, it appears that the ancient site has become a successful brand name, appearing ahead of Milan’s Duomo cathedral in terms of Italian symbols, and even in front of one of the world’s most famous and historic modern marketing phenomena, Coca Cola.
The Colosseum is currently undergoing restoration to be finished in 2013, and has been subject to some improvements to its marketing appeal, including an iPhone app to jump queues and night visits that have reduced daytime crowd numbers. Estimates, however, have actually put a brand value on the Colosseum, with its worth at 91 billion euros. The Duomo in Milan comes in at 82 billion euros and the Colosseum value is considered double that of Coca Cola.
The figures come from studies of a bizarre Italian law that has the capacity to pass on government property to local councils to be then auctioned or sold in moves designed to reduce public debt. The value placed on the Colosseum comes from research carried about by the Monza-Brianza Chamber of Commerce studies department and is based on the value of the land and an ‘economic attraction’ index (which also takes into account the use of the word ‘Colosseo’ in other businesses like restaurants and souvenir shops, for example).
The Economic Reputation Index, which is a joint project between organisations such as the Best Global Brands, Urban Audit and Italy’s touring club among others, has valued the Vatican Museums at 90 billion euros and the Trevi Fountain at 78 billion euros. If they were all to be sold, we imagine that would be Rome’s public debt covered a number of times over….
Photo | Wikipedia
Colosseum restoration to be finished by 2013
We don’t know the exact date the restoration will begin but according to the Italian Culture Minster Sandro Biondi it should be finished by 2013! The Italian government is now looking for private sponsors to help it restore one of Rome’s most important and best loved landmarks; a restoration which will cost an estimated 25 million euros. Sponsors would be allowed to advertise their contributions in a way “compatible with the value and decorum of the Colosseum. Among the first sponsors willing to shell out a few millions, Tod’s founder, Diego della Valle.
By the way you will be glad to know that the site will remain open to visitors while restoration work is completed.
Photo | Flickr
iPhone app to jump entrance queues at Colosseum
Dream of touring Rome without the queues? Now you can with an iPhone app that lets you jump the queue at the Colosseum, which is particularly handy in the height of the Italian summer tourist season. The application ‘i-Mibac- Top 40′ is a free download that you can use to look at maps and find information for more than 40 museums and archeological sites.
It allows you to book and buy tickets, receiving a bar code that lets you skip the queue and enter straight away. The iPhone application is the first to have been released by an Italian ministry and will soon be available on a range of Apple products, as well as smartphones in English.
Tickets purchased via the iPhone can be booked up to 24 hours prior to the planned visit, and the ticket holder receives a confirmation email with the barcode mentioned above. The new system is now working for the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine and will soon be available for other entrances as well.
Photo | Flickr
Summer in Rome: the Colosseum by night
This year the summer in Rome will be particularly interesting thanks to a series of events which will take place in the eternal city from June 15 to September 15; for the first time people will be able to visit the Colosseum by night (new lights have been placed all over the place); but the big news is that from July onwards even the dungeons where the gladiators were once kept will open their doors to the public (lifts for differently-abled people have been installed). But if all this shouldn’t slake your thirst for Roman history, you can always visit the exhibition Gladiators which as you can deduce from the title is entirely devoted to those proud and wild warriors whom the Romans trained to fight in the arena.
Photo | Flickr
30 million euros to restore Roman ruins: the Palatine and Roman Forum get a makeover
It’s easy to visit the ruins and monuments of Rome, particularly in the off-season, and wonder at the way they’re maintained, but it’s not quite so easy to find the 30 million euros required to restore parts of the Palatine Hill and Roman forum. Luckily, Italy’s cultural minister Roberto Cecchi has found the funds thanks to the coffers at Rome’s archeological board, and is dedicating them to specific restoration projects with promises of transparency in return.
The Magna Mater will get 500,000 euros to free it from tree damage, especially roots threatening its foundations. One million euros will go the restoration of the Santa Maria Antique, while 1.9 million euros are required for three separate works on the Domus Tiberiana terrace.
There are 17 sites earmarked for restoration in the Palatine-Roman forum area for a total cost of 7.5 million euros. The other 28 sites under consideration for restoration will require about 12.5 million euros to complete, bringing the total cost to 30 million euros. While as tourists we might complain about the cost of entrance tickets to some of the world’s most precious archeological heritage, looking at these figures it’s no wonder we need to pay.
Rome: dungeons under the colosseum will open to the public in July
Superintendent Rossella Rea has announced that from July onwards, the dungeon under the Colosseum will be open to the public; a guided tour of the Famous “ipogei” which will take visitors into a fascinating journey into the past; for the first time people will have the unique opportunity to see the cages where the lions were kept and walk down the corridors leading into the heart of the arena where the gladiators used to fight to death. An unforgettable experience which will bring the colosseum alive to the visitor and help him see it through the eyes of an ancient gladiator!
Photo | David Paul Ohmer
News from Italy: Fellini's feminist lovers, Colosseum restoration and papal cover-ups
International press news from Italy includes everything from Roma’s top spot in the Serie A football list, above FC Internazionale, to the restoration of the Colosseum and papal cover-ups. Sometimes it seems the world just can’t get enough of Italy.
Among the favourite topics from Spain’s El Pais is the 23 million euros announced for the restoration of the Colosseum. Rome’s mayor, Alemanno, has approved the expensive plan and the Spaniards say it’s come in time to prevent a similar fate to that of the roof crumbling on the Domus Aurea.
The Italians call it the most ‘curious’ topic, but if you know anything about Germaine Greer’s celebrity status in the Anglo world, you won’t be surprised that the Guardian reported a supposed dalliance between the strident feminist and Federico Fellini. Another event which apparently occured in Rome, over dinner of a basil risotto.
A Telegraph columnist uses an old favourite among journalists to compare modern politics to ancient times, wandering Rome’s ruins while pondering Britain’s budget deficit:
Rome: Temple of Venus and Rome to re-open after ten years
If you are planning to visit Rome, you’ll be glad to know that the famous the temple of Venus which in ancient times was dedicated to Venus Felix and Roma Aeterna will soon re-open its doors to the public. Built by Emperor Hadrian on the remnants of Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea, the temple comprises two different rooms, one looking towards the Colosseum, the other towards the Imperial Forums. The first section of the temple will open next May, while for the section dedicated to Roma Eaterna visitors will have to wait until November 2010.
Photo | Wikipedia
Spring in Italy: explore Rome by Tramcar
If you are in Rome, you can give a try to the famous Tram Storico, an old tracar which will take you on a tour of the eternal city, showing you the most famous sights of Rome; from the Basilicas of Saint John Lateran and Holy Cross in Jerusalem to the Colosseum and Imperial Forums. The first tour of the city starts today. Meeting point at Porta Maggiore around 16: 00. Tickets will cost you 36 euros ( 28 for children).
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