Palatine Hill is the centre of the Seven Hills of Rome and it is the most ancient part of the city where the first settlement is believed to happen. Palatine Hill stands 40m above Forum Romano and not far from the Colloseum.
Archaeological excavation is still ongoing and the findings conclude that humans have already lived in this place since 10,000 BC.
Now, Palatine Hill and Forum Romano is a connected open air museum. The ticket is sold in combo with Colloseum for EUR 12 (~SGD 19). When we took our bus from the hotel, we passed by Colloseum and got alarmed by the queue. I was so glad that we visited Palatine Hill and Forum Romano first.
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| At the bus stop after Colloseum, walk a bit and you'll find this entrance |
After purchasing our tickets, we walked into the compound. Turn right to Forum Romano or turn left to Palatine Hill. We decided to walk to Palatine Hill first. It was so quiet, no queue and almost nobody inside. I guess everybody just flock at the Colloseum.
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| The first sight that attracted us: pink flowers! |
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| Staring at the ruin of something huge |
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| Something even more massive |
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| This is the place for the horses to train |
There were information boards at some areas, but some areas just lacked of the boards. We just walked around, enjoyed the scenery, the breeze, and the massive structures until the top of the hill.
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| On top of the hill, overlooking the city |
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| Another view |
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| Forum Romano down there |
I feel there were not enough signboards around to lead people. We walked and walked and walked, and at some points we lost our ways. We finally followed some people and found our way to Forum Romano.
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| Approaching Roman Forum |
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| Keep walking |
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| Finally in the Roman Forum |
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| How ancient people possibly built those, I wonder |
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| Ancient and magnificent |
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| All the stones and everything |
This place is very big and we spent hours to walk across it. There were ruins of temples, horse stables, altars, fortresses, etc. Due to lack of notice boards, I could not really grasp each of the structures there. But I love it!
We tried to walk out but could not find the exit until fifteen minutes later. We then walked towards the Colloseum which was our next destination.
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| Enjoying the view |
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| Near the exit but can't exit here |
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| Finding our way |
When we finally exited the place, we were very near to the Colloseum already. We walked a bit and got surprised by the endless queue!
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| We are like faaaar behind from the entrance |
Fortunately, we were quick enough to check whether the queue was for entering the building or purchasing the tickets. And yeah, it was to purchase the tickets. We then move towards another queue which was much shorter and made our way in. Once we were inside, everything was fast.
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| Finally inside! |
We walked up to the second floor and looked at the inner side of the Colloseum. Colloseum was built in the Flavian Dinasty and inaugurated in the year of 80 AD. It was a public building designated for shows. The oval shape building has length of 188m in the major axis and 165m in minor axis with the height of 50m. The centre part of the building was a wooden platform covered in sand, called the arena, for the games to take place. Below the platform were underground service area.
80 arches as entrance points were built surrounding the structures, 4 of them were positioned at the axes for the VVIP (emperor, political and religious authorities) and the protagonist of the games. The seating area could contain 40,000 to 70,000 spectators and the area were divided into 5 sub-area for people to sit according to their social rank. The lowest rank people sat at the top of the seating area where the visibility was poor.
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| The wooden platform was partially reconstructed at the west side |
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| From the other side of the Colloseum |
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| Closer look to underground service area |
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| Level 1 |
We spent not much time inside. I lost my interest because of the crazy winds and drizzles. After about 30 minutes, we walked out and had our lunch nearby across the road.
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| The outer part of the Colloseum |
I expected Colloseum to be more extravagant but it was not. I was quite disappointed to see the facade being restorated and plastered by mortars, causing it to lose its beauty. Why don't they leave the cracks and strengthen it from the inside using steel plate, fiber netting, or something? Just don't touch the history.
Okay, enough whining. Time to move on.
Love is in the air,
Little Feet
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