Study Abroad Memories: Colosseo - One Colossal Landmark

As the school year comes to a close, many Virginia Tech students are looking forward to their summer plans. For many, that includes returning home, working, hanging out with friends and possibly even vacationing.

But for some students, it means studying abroad. At this time last year, I was preparing to spend six weeks studying abroad in Perugia, Italy during May and June. My time there went by too quickly but I left with an array of irreplaceable Italian experiences.

Traveling through many popular Italian destinations - Rome, Florence, Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Assisi and more - was the highlight of my study abroad experience. I visited numerous famed Italian landmarks but one stood out above the rest...

A nearly 2,000-year-old deteriorating, decaying stone structure never looked as beautifully magnificent.

Yes, the Colosseum still manages to stand in a radiant, glowing glory unrivaled by any landmark in the world.

But in an ironic twist, the old-world Colosseum stands across the street from a modern-world creation - a metro stop appropriately named Colosseo, the Italian word for Colosseum. However, the modern world quickly fades away outside the metro stop. It knows it has no place tainting the picturesque, old-world trance created by the Colosseum.

The ancient structure, which opened in A.D. 80, beckons tourists from the moment they step off at Colosseo. Its open arches provide a free sneak peak into its soul, further enticing visitors to step inside its crumbling walls.

But, quite frankly, no enticing is necessary. People travel from all around the world to step inside this historical Roman symbol as evidenced by the vast number of languages that can be heard while waiting in line to enter the Colosseum.

Originally called the Flavian Amphitheater, the Colosseum was renamed after a colossal, gilt, bronze statue of the Roman emperor Nero that once stood nearby.

Clearly, the structure has seen better days. In its prime, it could seat 80,000 spectators inside its walls while hundreds of statues decorated the grounds outside its walls. The Colosseum even had a protective awning system, called a velarium, to shield its thousands of spectators from inclement weather. The velarium is an ancestor to the retractable roof stadiums that can be found at MLB and NFL stadiums across America.

Despite the loss of its seats, statues, velarium and countless other parts, the Colosseum still manages to turn heads at the ripe old age of 1,927.

And it doesn’t disappoint once inside either.

Tourists can walk around the lower and upper rings while gazing downward at the underground passages once traveled by Roman gladiators on their way to the arena’s floor. The earth that once comprised the arena’s floor, however, has completely eroded away. Unfortunately, the passages are off limits to tourists. Although judging by the many intently focused faces, it doesn’t stop curious minds from imagining what it would be like to walk through them.

Once they are through looking below, tourists can gaze upward to see the remnants of the spectator seats. Curious minds might again use their imagination to picture where the Roman emperors used to sit and watch the gladiator spectacles unfold before them.

The upper ring gives an especially impressive view of everything the Colosseum has to offer. And most visitors look eager to take everything in.

They seem to walk around with a pronounced delicacy, cherishing each sensitive step on the sacred stone ground. There is an unspoken admiration for the legendary stories contained in the mute wall of arches encircling the Colosseum’s arena.

In addition to all the stories it contains, the Colosseum also carries a great deal of responsibility. In fact, it carries the fate of humanity.

According to legend, Rome will stand as long as the Colosseum stands. If the Colosseum falls, then so will Rome and, with it, the rest of the world.

Now, that’s a lot of pressure to be placed on one structure. But, so far, so good.

For almost 20 centuries, the Colosseum has stood as the symbol of perhaps the greatest empire in the history of mankind. Today, it continues to be the defining symbol of Rome; a God among the city’s many famed landmarks.

For the world’s sake - and tourists’ too - may it stand another 2,000 years and beyond.

Photos courtesy of Kate Rendente, 2006 Colorado University alumna and member of the author's study abroad program.