Landmark Europe
Colosseum
The Colosseum is a giant old stadium in Rome, Italy. It is almost 2,000 years old. It is shaped like an oval and has rows and rows of arches.
The Colosseum in Rome is an ancient Roman amphitheater, an oval arena with seats all around. Built between about 70 and 80 CE, it held about 50,000 people, who came to watch shows. Today it is one of Rome's major tourist attractions.
Begun under Vespasian between 70 and 72 CE, dedicated by Titus in 80 CE and finished by Domitian, the Flavian Amphitheatre measures 189 by 156 m and seated about 50,000. Its vaulted travertine, tuff and concrete structure is part of UNESCO's Historic Centre of Rome (1980).
Photo: © Anil Öztas, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Colosseum
The Colosseum is in Rome, a very old city in Italy.
It is a huge oval building with no roof. Inside, seats went all the way around a big open space. Long ago, crowds came here to watch shows. Now many people visit it every day.
The Colosseum stands in the heart of ancient Rome, just east of the Palatine Hill. Its real name is the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the family of emperors who built it. People started calling it the Colosseum because of a colossal, or giant, statue that stood nearby.
An amphitheater is an oval or round arena with rows of seats all around. This one is 189 meters long and 156 meters wide, and about 50,000 people could sit inside. The park that looks after it calls it the largest amphitheater in the world.
The Flavian Amphitheatre stands in the archaeological heart of Rome, managed today by the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, which calls it the largest amphitheater in the world. Britannica gives its overall size as 189 by 156 m (620 by 513 ft) and its capacity as about 50,000 spectators. Its popular name came from a colossal statue nearby.
Britannica notes that it was sited on the drained artificial lake of Nero's Golden House, a choice as symbolic as it was practical: Vespasian replaced a former emperor's private lake with a public amphitheater for tens of thousands of Romans. UNESCO includes it among the monuments of antiquity in the Historic Centre of Rome, inscribed in 1980, and cites its restoration as a test bed for modern restoration principles.
- Where
- Rome, Italy, just east of the Palatine Hill
- Size
- 189 by 156 m (620 by 513 ft)
- Seats
- about 50,000 spectators
- World Heritage
- part of the Historic Centre of Rome (1980)
From arena to ruin to monument
The Romans built the Colosseum a very long time ago.
For hundreds of years, people came to watch shows there. Then the shows stopped. People took some of its stones to build other things. Today, it is looked after carefully.
Emperor Vespasian began the Colosseum between 70 and 72 CE. His son Titus opened it in 80 CE with 100 days of games, and the next emperor, Domitian, added the top story in 82 CE. For centuries, crowds came to watch shows such as gladiator contests and animal hunts.
In 438, the emperor Valentinian III ended the gladiator games, and the Colosseum slowly fell into decline. In the Middle Ages it became a fortress for two Roman families, and later its stone was carried away to build other buildings, including St. Peter's Basilica. From the 1800s, people began to protect and repair it.
Construction began under Vespasian between 70 and 72 CE, as part of an imperial effort to revive Rome after the turmoil of 69 CE, the year of the four emperors; Titus dedicated it in 80 CE with 100 days of games, and Domitian added the uppermost story in 82 CE. The park records that until the end of antiquity it presented spectacles of great popular appeal, such as animal hunts and gladiatorial games. A fire in 217 seriously damaged the monument, which was closed until 222.
The gladiatorial games were abolished in 438 by Valentinian III, beginning a slow decline. In the 12th century the Frangipane and Annibaldi families used it as a fortress; in the late 15th century Pope Alexander VI allowed it to be quarried, and part of its stone went into St. Peter's Basilica. It also held workshops, houses and animal shelters, and was gradually Christianized. Systematic excavation and restoration followed in the 19th century, and a state-funded restoration took place in the 1990s.
Who built it, and how
Many workers built the Colosseum, long ago.
They stacked big stone blocks and made lots of arches. Arches are strong curved shapes that hold up heavy walls.
Britannica says the Colosseum was built by enslaved Jewish people brought from Judaea, after the Roman army captured Jerusalem in 70 CE. Treasure taken from Jerusalem helped pay for it.
Earlier amphitheaters were usually dug into hillsides for support, but the Colosseum stands on its own. Its builders used strong curved ceilings called vaults to hold up the seats. The outer wall and main frame are travertine, a hard pale stone, the other walls are tuff, a volcanic stone, and the seating bowl is concrete.
Britannica states that the amphitheater was paid for with plunder from Titus's sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE and built by enslaved Jewish people from Judaea. Unlike earlier amphitheaters, which were nearly all set into hillsides, it is freestanding, carried on a complex system of barrel vaults and groin vaults.
The main structural framework and facade are travertine, the secondary walls volcanic tufa, and the inner bowl and the arcade vaults concrete. Three stories of arcades are framed by engaged columns in the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders, an arrangement that became the basis of the Renaissance "assemblage of orders." Domitian's addition in 82 CE was the top, or attic, story, whose corbels held masts for the velarium, a huge retractable awning worked by hundreds of Roman sailors.
Arches, seats and the underground
The Colosseum has lots of arches on every level.
People went in through numbered arches, like doors with numbers. Under the floor were tunnels and lifts. They brought things up to the arena through trapdoors.
Going to the Colosseum was free. Spectators entered through 76 numbered arches, and 29 of those numbers can still be seen on the north side. Seats were given out by rank: the emperor had the best view, senators sat closest to the arena, and ordinary people sat at the very top on wooden seats.
Under the arena floor was a busy underground with 14 corridors. Workers used lifts, pulled up by ropes and winches, to raise people and animals through trapdoors into the arena. A huge awning could be stretched over the top to give shade.
The park describes free entry through 76 arches with carved numbers marked in red, 29 still visible on the north side; spectators followed marked paths to seats assigned by a strict hierarchy, from the imperial box on the short axis and the senators' seats next to the arena, through the sections for knights and lower classes, to the maenianum summum, a colonnaded portico with wooden seats for the plebs at the top.
Beneath the arena floor, full of trapdoors, people and animals were hoisted up by freight elevators worked by winches and pulleys. Built in wood for the inauguration, when the park says water shows were staged, the underground was rebuilt in masonry under Domitian, which ended the water shows. Today it covers half a hectare, with 14 corridors on either side of a large central passage, each end leading to a 'control room' for the great lifts.
- Numbered entrance arches
- 76 (29 still visible on the north side)
- Underground area
- half a hectare, 14 corridors
- Column styles
- Doric, Ionic and Corinthian
- Entry in Roman times
- free
The Colosseum today
Today, the Colosseum is a place to visit and learn.
Crowds come every day. Experts keep repairing the old stones so they last.
The Colosseum has long been one of Rome's major tourist attractions, and large numbers of visitors arrive every day. It is part of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, which also looks after the nearby Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
Visitors can walk around the seating levels, look down into the underground passages and gaze out over Rome through the outer arches. The park also holds exhibitions about the ancient world inside the amphitheater.
The Parco archeologico del Colosseo, which also manages the Roman Forum, the Palatine and the Domus Aurea, says the amphitheater welcomes large numbers of visitors daily and hosts temporary exhibitions on antiquity and its links with contemporary life. Visitors can reach the arena, the underground and the upper levels, including the Belvedere terrace on the third level.
Britannica describes the damage of centuries, from lightning and earthquakes to vandalism and pollution: the marble seats and decoration disappeared while the site served as a quarry for more than 1,000 years. Preservation began in earnest in the 19th century, with Pope Pius VIII among those leading it, and UNESCO notes that the restoration of the Colosseum helped form modern restoration principles.
Amazing facts
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The Colosseum got its name from a giant statue.
It was named the Colosseum because a colossal, or giant, statue stood nearby. Its official name is the Flavian Amphitheatre.
The popular name comes from a colossal statue near the building; the formal name honors the Flavian dynasty that built it.
-
Sailors worked a giant sunshade over the seats.
A huge awning shaded the crowd. It took hundreds of Roman sailors to work its ropes.
The retractable velarium hung from masts set in corbels on the attic story and needed hundreds of sailors to handle its rigging.
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Some of its stones were used to build a famous church.
For centuries people took stone from the Colosseum, and some of it went into building St. Peter's Basilica.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance the amphitheater served as a quarry; part of its material was used for St. Peter's Basilica.
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Going to the Colosseum was free.
In Roman times, entry was free. People found their seats by following numbers carved over the arches.
Entry was free; spectators followed paths marked on the inner arches and on tokens held by the head of each family.
Words to know
- amphitheater
- an oval or round arena with rows of seats all around
- arch
- a curved structure that spans an opening and holds up weight
- vault
- an arched ceiling or roof made of stone, brick or concrete
- travertine
- a hard, pale stone the Romans used for building
- trapdoor
- a door set into a floor that opens up or down
- winch
- a machine that winds a rope to pull or lift heavy things
Discovery challenge
-
Which city is the Colosseum in?
In which city does the Colosseum stand?
In which city's historic center, listed by UNESCO in 1980, does the Colosseum stand?
- Rome
- Athens
- Paris
Show the answer
Rome
Rome, in Italy!
The Colosseum is in Rome, the capital of Italy, near the Palatine Hill.
Rome: it is among the monuments of antiquity in UNESCO's Historic Centre of Rome.
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What shape is the Colosseum?
What shape is the Colosseum's arena?
What is the plan shape of the Flavian Amphitheatre?
- Oval
- Triangle
- Square
Show the answer
Oval
It is an oval, like a stretched circle.
It is an oval, 189 meters long and 156 meters wide, with seats all around.
Elliptical, 189 by 156 m overall, with tiers of seating around the arena.
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About how many people could sit in the Colosseum?
About how many spectators could the Colosseum hold?
What capacity does Britannica give for the Colosseum?
- About 500
- About 50,000
- About 5 million
Show the answer
About 50,000
About 50,000 people! That is a huge crowd.
About 50,000 spectators could sit inside, entering through 76 numbered arches.
About 50,000, seated by social rank from the imperial box to the wooden seats of the top portico.
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How did things come up into the arena?
How were people and animals brought up into the arena?
What machinery raised people and animals into the arena from below?
- Lifts through trapdoors
- A train
- A slide
Show the answer
Lifts through trapdoors
Lifts pulled by ropes came up through little doors in the floor.
Workers used winches and pulleys to raise lifts through trapdoors in the arena floor.
Freight elevators driven by winches and pulleys rose through trapdoors from the underground.
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Where did the Colosseum get its name?
Why did people start calling it the Colosseum?
What gave the Flavian Amphitheatre its popular name, the Colosseum?
- A giant statue nearby
- A river
- A famous horse
Show the answer
A giant statue nearby
A giant statue stood near it. Colossal means giant!
A colossal, or giant, statue stood nearby, so people called the building the Colosseum.
The park says the name came from a colossal statue that stood nearby; the formal name honors the Flavian dynasty.
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Natural wonder
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Experiments to try
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a crane used more pulleys? Lifting a 100-kilogram crate straight up on one rope is hard work. In this lab, add pulleys so that more pieces of rope hold the load. Watch how the pull you need gets smaller, and how much more rope you have to pull.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge had no supports? A beam bridge stays up because its supports push up on it. In our model, a steel beam held at both ends barely bends under a 20-tonne truck. Hold it at one end only and it bends about eight times as much. Take away every support and nothing holds it up at all.
Explore next
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Country
Italy
Italy is a country in southern Europe on a long peninsula that reaches into the Mediterranean Sea, often described as shaped like a boot. The Alps rise in the north, the Apennine mountains run down its length, and about 58.9 million people (2026) live there. Its capital is Rome.
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Watch
City
Rome
Rome, the capital of Italy, grew from huts on a hill beside the Tiber River into the center of a huge ancient empire. About 2.7 million people live there today (2023), among ruins such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.
-
Watch
Landmark
Pantheon
The Pantheon in Rome was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian almost 1,900 years ago, as a temple of ancient Roman religion. Its concrete dome, about 43 meters across, was the largest ever built until modern times. Since 609 it has been a church, and it still stands almost exactly as it was built.
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Watch
Landmark
St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica, in Vatican City, is the church of the popes and a place of worship for Catholics. Building began in 1506 and took more than a century. Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini all helped design it, and 800 workers raised its great dome in just 22 months.
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- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a crane used more pulleys? Lifting a 100-kilogram crate straight up on one rope is hard work. In this lab, add pulleys so that more pieces of rope hold the load. Watch how the pull you need gets smaller, and how much more rope you have to pull.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge had no supports? A beam bridge stays up because its supports push up on it. In our model, a steel beam held at both ends barely bends under a 20-tonne truck. Hold it at one end only and it bends about eight times as much. Take away every support and nothing holds it up at all.
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Watch
Landmark
Pompeii
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Rome and explain what an amphitheater is and what the Colosseum was used for.
- Describe how arches and vaults let the Romans build a huge freestanding structure.
- Discuss honestly who built the Colosseum, including enslaved workers.
- Explain how the building was damaged and reused over the centuries and why it is protected today.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Many of the Colosseum's builders were enslaved. Why is it important to remember the people who built famous places?
- Seats were given out by rank. How would you feel if your seat depended on who your family was?
- People once took stones from the Colosseum to build new things. Was that wrong, or sensible? Why?
Try at home or in class
- Build an arch from sugar cubes or foam blocks over a curved cardboard support, then remove the support and test how much weight it holds.
- Make a pulley lift with a string, a spool and a paper cup, and lift a small toy up through a 'trapdoor' cut in a box.
Key vocabulary: amphitheater, arch, vault, travertine, trapdoor, winch
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- The Colosseum , Parco archeologico del Colosseo
- The underground levels of the Colosseum , Parco archeologico del Colosseo
- The cavea of the Colosseum and the Belvedere terrace , Parco archeologico del Colosseo
- Colosseum , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Historic Centre of Rome , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.