Built in the 1st century AD as a gift to the Romans, this dignified, round monument has become the city's most recognisable symbol.

Emperor Vespasian commissioned the Colosseum to fill the site of a massive lake that his predecessor, Nero, had had excavated for his own private use. The massive circus, with a capacity of more than 55,000, was used for popular, bloodthirsty spectator sports. In spite of centuries of use as an unofficial marble quarry for Renaissance and baroque builders, much of the outer shell has survived showing the four arched tiers (each arch held a statue) behind which staircases and galleries led to the auditorium. Seating was segregated according to sex and status; the emperor's box was at the southern end (opposite today's main entrance) and below him sat the Vestal Virgins.