The scale itself
Walk end to end (600 metres) to grasp that the Romans built a stadium for three times the Colosseum's crowd.
Rione Colonna โ CC BY 4.0 ยท ะะธัะพะปัะด ะััะฐัะพะฒ โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Falk2 โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท SteveK โ CC BY-SA 3.0
No โ treat it as a corridor, not a destination: twenty minutes while moving between the Colosseum and Caracalla or the Aventine. The AR experience, though, turns it into a real destination for Roman-history enthusiasts.
The Aventine Hill directly above: the Orange Garden with its view over Rome, and the famous Knights of Malta keyhole โ both free, ten minutes' climb away.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet โ be the first.
The largest stadium in history: a long valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills that held one hundred and fifty thousand spectators โ three times the Colosseum โ for chariot racing, Rome's first and most reckless sport. Twelve chariots launched together for seven laps around a central spine, their drivers celebrities with fabulous fortunes and appalling mortality rates. What survives today is the shape alone: a long grass track with a clear curve at one end and traces of seating on the southeast side. No buildings, no columns โ its stone was quarried over centuries to build Rome's churches and palaces. So it is a free open space more than a monument: Romans run here and walk their dogs, and major concerts are staged on its floor. The visitor's best use of it: walk through for a few minutes between the Colosseum and the Baths of Caracalla, and imagine the noise.
Walk end to end (600 metres) to grasp that the Romans built a stadium for three times the Colosseum's crowd.
From the track the imperial palaces hang above you โ the angle the spectators had.
Headsets rebuild the full stadium around you, races and crowd included โ the only way to see it as it was.
Via del Circo Massimo, Rome