Colosseum opens gladiator pits (for public touring!)

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(ANSA) - Rome - The Colosseum has added to its allure by opening the undergrounds pits where gladiators and wild beasts waited before being winched from darkness into the light of the killing ground.

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As well as revealing the bowels of the one-time blood-and-guts arena, the famed monument has also reopened its 33m-high third storey, closed since the 1970s, affording a breathtaking view of Rome. The two new attractions aim to boost visitor numbers at the site, which is already Italy's single most-visited monument at some 19,000 people a day.

According to Colosseum site director Rossella Rea, the gladiatorial areas are all the more fascinating because "they were completely buried in the 5th century AD and have been perfectly conserved". "They never suffered the depredation which the surface parts of the monument were victims to," she said.

Rea said the hope was to have recaptured "some of the atmosphere" of the breathless moments before the games commenced, when the armoured or naked fighters and the wild animals were hauled up through 80 trap-doors.

Source: www.ansa.it...
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This must be a great visit/touring place. I'm glad they are restoring the Colosseum and people are seeking more and more of it. Breath taking... no pun intended.

So much death must have went on there. One can only imagine what horrors played out there and the number of deaths watched by the blood thirsty crowds.

And, how terrifying was it to be a Known Victim and what your fate was going to be no matter what you did-DEATH. They just gave up on mankind when they started this stuff-and against Christians. Tells you what the Romans thought of God.
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