Taking the Metro

Today’s destinations were the Colosseum Arena and the Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano. To get to the Colosseum, we all took the underground metro train. The Rome Metro has three different lines that operate on about 37 miles of track. There was a station just a few blocks away from the hotel, and it was super quick and easy to get in and on the train. We all thought that it was a pretty cool experience, and this was something that we definitely wished we had in our metro area. It seems like they really got the public transportation down here.

Colosseum

Next, We toured the Colosseum and went over its unique history and involvement with Rome and Gladiators. It was used for various events such as gladiator fights and animal hunts. The Colosseum was created around 80 AD and it was properly maintained up until the fall of the Roman empire. One of the more notable aspects that we observed during our tour were all of the arches as the arches gave a lot of strength and utility to the Colosseum. The materials used in the colosseum were stone and bricks that were long lasting, but after the fall of the roman empire, it was no longer maintained. It began to crumble over time and the remains are all that is left for tours. Another interesting part of the tour was that the floor was gone and we were able to explore the dungeons.

St. Clemente’s Church

We ended our tour at St. Clemente’s church where we got to have a look at one of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures. We started our tour in the basement in a 4th century church with frescos dating back to the 8th to 11th centuries along with artifacts cemented into the wall. We then ventured deeper into the lower basement of the building that was once a Mithraic temple. Mithraism is the lost religion of Roman soldiers. We then ended our tour in going up to the 12th century Basilica dedicated to St. Clemente.