Nov. 13, 2024

142. Italy - Rome - The Colosseum and Why You Need the Underground Tour

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Journey Joe shares his favorite sight in Rome! Get insider tips on photographing the Colosseum at night, learn why the underground tour is absolutely worth it, and discover how to avoid the tourist traps. From ancient gladiator...

Show Notes
Transcript

TOURS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Journey Joe shares his favorite sight in Rome! Get insider tips on photographing the Colosseum at night, learn why the underground tour is absolutely worth it, and discover how to avoid the tourist traps. From ancient gladiator tunnels to the best photo spots, this episode is packed with practical advice for experiencing the Colosseum like a pro. Check our show notes for our recommended tours that get you access to restricted areas!"

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Calaruga Shark Media. Hey there, fellow travelers. This is Journey

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Joe Mitchell, and you're listening to Travelers Back your guide

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to amazing destinations for regular folks like you and me. Today,

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I want to tell you about what turned out to

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be my absolute favorite site in Rome, the incredible Colosseum.

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You know, I've seen a lot of amazing places over

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the years, but there was something about this massive, ancient

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arena that just blew me away. I actually got emotional

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when I first saw it, and I want to share

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that experience with you. Let me tell you about my

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first glimpse of the Colosseum. It wasn't even during my

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official visit. I had just arrived in Rome, and after

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checking into my hotel in the early evening, I decided

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to take a walk to get my bearings. I turned

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a corner and there it was, lit up against the

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darkening sky. I literally stopped in my tracks. The way

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they lighted at night is absolutely magical. The warm golden

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lights shine through those massive arches, and you can really

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appreciate why this building has captured people's imagination for two

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thousand years. Even if you're touring it during the day.

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And you absolutely should. I highly recommend coming back after

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dark just to see it all lit up. The crowds

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are smaller then and it's a perfect time for photos

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without fighting through tour groups. Speaking of tours, and I

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know some of you might be thinking, do I really

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need a guide for what's basically a really old sports arena.

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Let me tell you right now, absolutely yes. The tour

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we recommend in our show notes and seriously check it

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out completely transform my understanding of this place. Here's why

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the basic ticket only gets you into about thirty percent

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of the Colisseum. The really amazing stuff, the underground areas

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where they kept the animals and gladiators, the upper levels

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with those incredible views over Rome, the newly restored sections

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that most tourists never see. You can only access these

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with special tours, and trust me, these areas are what

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make the Colosseum truly mind blowing. I remember standing on

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the reconstructed arena floor looking up at the immense walls

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rising around me, and our guide asked us to close

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our eyes for a moment. Imagine, she said, fifty thousand

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Romans screaming and cheering, the smell of the Mediterranean breeze

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mixing with the sawdust and sand, the tension in the

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air as the gladiators prepared for battle. When I opened

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my eyes again, I swear I could almost see it.

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That's the kind of experience you just can't get from

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wandering around on your own with a guidebook. Let me

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tell you about the underground area, the hypogium, as it's called.

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This was probably the most fascinating part for me. Picture

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a massive backstage area, but from two thousand years ago,

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they had this incredibly complex system of pulleys and elevators

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that could lift animals, scenery, and gladiators up to the

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arena fla our guide showed us these marks in the

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stone where the elevator mechanisms were attached. You can actually

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see grooves worn by ropes from two millennia ago. It's

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absolutely mind boggling to think about the engineering knowledge they

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had back then. They could even flood the entire arena

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for mock naval battles. Can you imagine the logistics involved

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in that? And remember they built this whole thing in

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just eight years without any modern technology. You know what

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really got me the social history of the place. Our

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guide explained how the seating was arranged by social class,

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with the Emperor's box at the perfect viewing height, not

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too close to the action, not too far away. The

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senators got the front row seats, then the noble class,

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then the regular citizens, and finally, at the very top

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the women and the poor. Except here's the fascinating part.

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Those cheap seats at the top, they actually have the

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most spectacular views of the city. On a clear day,

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you can see all of Rome spread out before you,

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from Saint Peter's Basilica to the distant mountains. Sometimes I

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wonder if the regular folks up there spent more time

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enjoying the view than watching the games below. Now let's

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talk about taking photos, because this place is an absolute

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paradise for photographers, whether you're a pro or just want

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some amazing vacation shots. I ended up visiting three different

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times just to capture different lighting conditions. In the early morning,

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the sun creates these beautiful long shadows through the arches.

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During the day, the contrast between the bright sky and

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the dark interior can be challenging, but it makes for

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some dramatic shots. And then there's sunset and nighttime absolutely magical.

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Let me give you some specific photo spots that I discovered.

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For the classic exterior shot, head up to the hill

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near the metro station. You get this perfect elevated view

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with the forum in the background. For interior shots, the

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upper levels give you these incredible angles looking down through

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the structure. If you're on one of the special tours,

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the underground areas make for amazingly moody photos, especially where

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shafts of light come down through the openings in the

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arena floor. And here's a tip nobody told me. Bring

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a small tripod. For night shots. You can set up

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across the street near the metro station and get these

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stunning long exposures with light trails from passing cars in

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the foreground and the lit up Colisseum in the background.

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Here's something about timing your visit that I learned the

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hard way. I initially planned to go at noon because

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I thought, hey, perfect lighting for photos, right. Big mistake.

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The midday sun is brutal, especially in summer, and there's

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surprisingly little shade inside the coliseum. After about fifteen minutes,

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I was watching people retreat to any small patch of

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shade they could find, like a game of ancient Roman

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musical chairs. Learn from my mistake. Book your tour for

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either early morning or late afternoon. I personally prefer late

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afternoon because the lighting gets more and more beautiful as

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your tour progresses, and then you can stick around for

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that magical sunset. Let's talk about how to make the

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most of your visit beyond just the tour. First off,

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wear comfortable shoes. I cannot stress this enough. You'll be

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doing a lot of walking and climbing, and those ancient

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Roman stones can be slippery. I tracked my steps during

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my visit and including the Roman Forum next door, which

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is part of the same ticket, and you absolutely should visit.

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I clocked over twelve thousand steps. That's a lot of walking.

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Bring a water bottle. There are fountains with drinking water

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near the Colosseum where you can fill up for free.

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The water comes from the mountains through Rome's ancient aqueduct system.

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How cool is that you're literally drinking from the same

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water system the ancient Romans used. Just look for the

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constant flow fountains with the metal spouts. The water is clean,

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cold and refreshing, and you'll definitely need it. About those crowds, Yes,

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the Colosseum gets incredibly crowded. But here's the thing. With

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the right strategy, you can minimize their impact on your experience. First,

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if you book one of the special access tours have

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I mentioned we have links in our show notes, you'll

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bypass the main entrance lines, which can literally save you hours. Second,

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these special tours often take you to areas that are

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restricted to regular ticket holders, so you're automatically away from

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the biggest crowds. The tour of the lower level was

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honestly worth the price of admission alone. When you first

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descend the stairs into what they call the hypogeum, there's

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this immediate drop in temperature that hits you. It's about

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ten degrees cooler down there, and you can just imagine

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what a relief that must have been for the gladiators

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waiting in the summer heat. The passageways are narrow. I'm

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not claustrophobic, but I definitely felt the weight of the

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building above me. Our guide explained that these corridors would

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have been dimly lit by oil lamps, and they were

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constantly buzzing with activity. Slaves running back and forth with supplies,

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animal handlers checking their cages, gladiators preparing for their fights.

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One of the coolest things they showed us was this

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recreation of the lift system they used. Now it's just

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a wooden model, but it helps you understand how they

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could suddenly have a lion appear in the middle of

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the arena floor as if by magic. They had these

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ingenious trapdoors and pulley systems. Think of it like an

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ancient Roman version of a modern stage production, but way

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more intense, because you know they were dealing with actual

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lions and bears. They found evidence of twenty eight different

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lifts that could operate simultaneously. Imagine the coordination that must

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have taken. And here's something that blew my mind. They

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discovered traces of a plumbing system down here. The Romans

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actually had running water in the basement of the Colisseum.

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They needed it for the animals, of course, but also

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for cleaning up after the shows, if you know what

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I mean. Our guide pointed out these channels cut into

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the stone floor that they used for drainage. The engineering

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is just incredible. They had to slope everything just right

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so the water would flow where they wanted it to.

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The most moving part for me was when we reached

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a small chamber that they think was a gladiator waiting room.

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There are these ancient graffiti marks on the walls, actual

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scratches made by people two thousand years ago. Some are

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just tally marks, maybe counting victories or days, but others

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are clear drawings of tridents and other weapons. Standing there,

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looking at those marks, you really feel connected to the

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people who once stood in that exact spot, probably experiencing

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the most intense moments of their lives. Let me share

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a really special moment I had during my visit. We

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were down in the underground area and our guide had

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us all be quiet for a moment. Standing there in

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the semi darkness, hearing the muffled sounds of the crowds above,

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I could almost feel the history of the place. I

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thought about all the people who had stood in that

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same spot over the centuries, the gladiators preparing for battle,

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the workers operating the complex machinery, the medieval romans who

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used the space for storage, the early archaeologists who first

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excavated it. It's moments like these that make travel so meaningful,

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where you feel connected to the long thread of human history.

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Let's talk about food for a minute, because you're going

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to work up an appetite exploring this place. Whatever you do,

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don't eat at the tourist restaurants right around the Colisseum.

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They're overpriced and honestly not very good. Instead, walk about

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ten minutes into the Monte neighborhood. This area is full

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of excellent, authentic restaurants where Romans actually eat. The best

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places are on the side streets. Look for restaurants where

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you hear Italian being spoken, not where you see pictures

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of pasta in the window. You know what else, I

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loved the cats. You'll see them lounging around the archaeological area,

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especially in the Roman Forum next door. They're taken care

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of by local volunteers, and there's something wonderful about watching

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these modern day creatures making themselves at home among these

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ancient ruins. It's like they're the current guardians of all

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this history. Before we wrap up, let me just emphasize

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again why this was my favorite site in Rome. It's

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not just the impressive architecture or the fascinating history. It's

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the way the Colisseum helps you connect with the past.

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Standing there, you can't help but feel part of something

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bigger than yourself, part of the long story of human

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civilization and isn't that what travel is all about. Remember

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to check out the tours we recommend in our show notes.

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They really will make your visit special. And as always,

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if you'd like to receive these episodes without commercials, head

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over to Calaroga dot com slash plus. There's a link

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right in the show notes. Next time, we'll be exploring

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another amazing site in Rome, the Monumento Nazionale of Vittorio

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Emmanuel the Second, just a short walk from the coliseum.

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But until then, this is Journey Joe Mitchell, reminding you

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that the world is waiting. Get out there and start exploring.

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Happy travels.

142. Italy - Rome - The Colosseum and Why You Need the Underground Tour

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