Visitors to the Colosseum in Rome now have a new opportunity to journey into the past thanks to a restoration project during which several columns that had been buried for hundreds of years were discovered at the entrance. This is reported by G4Media.ro.
"The Colosseum in Rome has undergone a major restoration, during which parts of its original structure that had been hidden for centuries were discovered. New blocks of travertine marble have been installed outside the arena, marking the location where grand columns once stood at the entrance," the material explained. This project restores the perimeter of the landmark and highlights details that have long been buried underground, specifically the original numbers at the entrance that indicated the spectators' seats.
"In antiquity, each arch, except those located along the main and secondary axes, was marked with a number engraved at the top of the arch, directly below the first cornice of the facade, to facilitate the identification of the entrances," the publication added. In particular, the architect of the restoration project, Stefano Boeri, stated that the initial idea was to give visitors a real sense of the proportions of the monument: "We recreated the actual perimeter, the crepidoma (pavement) of the Colosseum, and at the same time, the dimensions of all parts of the arcades (arches) that had been hidden underground. They had been concealed for centuries."
Thus, the work to strengthen and restore the original levels of the landmark not only allowed for the clear outlines of the Flavian amphitheater and its geometric foundation to be recreated, but also provided an opportunity to rethink the rainwater drainage system. As a result, this public space, organized from a hydraulic perspective and more accessible to visitors, with water management also being an integral part of the paving project.
"We wanted to restore to the public some of the missing sections of the passage corridors. Two missing sections of the Flavian amphitheater corridors collapsed starting from the 6th century AD for various reasons, the main one being that the ground in this area is the most unstable," added Alfonsina Russo, an archaeologist and representative of Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage.
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