Since the beginning of the restoration work on the Colosseum in 2013, criticisms have been made repeatedly.
The project, financed by Diego della Valle, founder of the shoe empire Tod’s, with 25 million project, according to opinions of some experts after the end of the first phase of work had not shown the results that one had hoped. In fact, the restoration of the Colosseum was entrusted to a construction company that had a professional team of architects and engineers but no professional supervision of the restoration work. For instance, experts in the area criticize that the cleaning of the 2000-year-old building was not carried out homogeneously. In part, the travertine blocks were cleaned too much, so that the natural aging process was lost. In other places, however, would still be dirty spots.
Interesting, however, are the discoveries that have been made during the last two years. These document the various historical eras that the Coliseum had undergone: aqueducts from the time of its construction or ceramics and clay figures dating back to the Middle Ages when the Coliseum was converted into private homes.
The last fights in the amphitheater were staged at the beginning of the 6th century, after which the building, which was opened at the time of Emperor Titus in 80, became a quarry and a homeless shelter.
The Coliseum had a capacity of approximately 75,000 spectators, who had to obtain free tickets prior to the start of the Games, allowing them to enter one of the 76 numbered entry arches. Even today you can see the Latin numerals clearly visible above the lower arcade arches. During the restoration work, a red layer of paint sometimes appeared at these points, proving that the numbers above the entrance arches were colored. Such rare discoveries may then compensate a bit for the reviews.
With a visitor count of around 6.5 million, the Coliseum after the Great Wall of China is the second most visited archeological area in the world. In order not to overload the building during the restoration work, since last year, a visitor limit has been introduced, which allows only 6000 visitors at the same time in the building. Let’s hope that after all these measures, the Coliseum will be maintained for at least another 2000 years and in the future will also be able to help the entrance fees (50 million euros per year)!
“As long as the Colosseum stands, it says Rome. When the Coliseum falls, Rome falls. When Rome goes down, the world goes down. ”
(Beda the Honorable, prophecy from the 8th century).