Kilala ang Roma sa nakamamanghang arkitektura, kasama ang Colleseum, Pantheon, at Trevi Fountain bilang pangunahing atraksyon. Kaya naman, alamin natin ang higit pa tungkol sa mga lugar na ito

Colosseum, also called Flavian Amphitheatre, giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. Construction of the Colosseum was begun sometime between 70 and 72 CE during the reign of Vespasian. It is located just east of the Palatine Hill, on the grounds of what was Nero’s Golden House. The artificial lake that was the centrepiece of that palace complex was drained, and the Colosseum was sited there, a decision that was as much symbolic as it was practical. Vespasian, whose path to the throne had relatively humble beginnings, chose to replace the tyrannical emperor’s private lake with a public amphitheatre that could host tens of thousands of Romans.

The structure was officially dedicated in 80 CE by Titus in a ceremony that included 100 days of games. Later, in 82 CE, Domitian completed the work by adding the uppermost story. Unlike earlier amphitheatres, which were nearly all dug into convenient hillsides for extra support, the Colosseum is a freestanding structure of stone and concrete, using a complex system of barrel vaults and groin vaults and measuring 620 by 513 feet (189 by 156 metres) overall. Three of the arena’s stories are encircled by arcades framed on the exterior by engaged columns in the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders; the structure’s rising arrangement of columns became the basis of the Renaissance codification known as the assemblage of orders. The main structural framework and facade are travertine, the secondary walls are volcanic tufa, and the inner bowl and the arcade vaults are concrete.

In medieval times, the Colosseum was used as a church, then as a fortress by two prominent Roman families, the Frangipane and the Annibaldi. The Colosseum was damaged by lightning and earthquakes and, even more severely, by vandalism and pollution.

The amphitheatre seated some 50,000 spectators, who were shielded from the sun by a massive retractable velarium (awning). Supporting masts extended from corbels built into the Colosseum’s top, or attic, story, and hundreds of Roman sailors were required to manipulate the rigging that extended and retracted the velarium. The Colosseum was the scene of thousands of hand-to-hand combats between gladiators, of contests between men and animals, and of many larger combats, including mock naval engagements. However, it is uncertain whether the arena was the site of the martyrdom of early Christians.

Pantheon, building in Rome that was begun in 27 BC by the statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, probably as a building of the ordinary Classical temple type—rectangular with a gabled roof supported by a colonnade on all sides. It was completely rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian sometime between AD 118 and 128, and some alterations were made in the early 3rd century by the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. It is a circular building of concrete faced with brick, with a great concrete dome rising from the walls and with a front porch of Corinthian columns supporting a gabled roof with triangular pediment. Beneath the porch are huge bronze double doors, 24 feet (7 metres) high, the earliest known large examples of this type

The Pantheon is remarkable for its size, its construction, and its design. Until modern times, the dome was the largest built, measuring about 142 feet (43 metres) in diameter and rising to a height of 71 feet (22 metres) above its base. There is no external evidence of brick arch support inside the dome, except in the lowest part, and the exact method of construction has never been determined. Two factors, however, are known to have contributed to its success: the excellent quality of the mortar used in the concrete and the careful selection and grading of the aggregate material, which ranges from heavy basalt in the foundations of the building and the lower part of the walls, through brick and tufa (a stone formed from volcanic dust), to the lightest of pumice toward the centre of the vault. In addition, the uppermost third of the drum of the walls, seen from the outside, coincides with the lower part of the dome, seen from the inside, and helps contain the thrust with internal brick arches. The drum itself is strengthened by huge brick arches and piers set above one another inside the walls, which are 20 feet (6 metres) thick.

The porch is conventional in design, but the body of the building, an immense circular space lit solely by the light that floods through the 27-foot (8-metre) “eye,” or oculus, opening at the centre of the dome, was revolutionary; possibly this was the first of several great buildings of antiquity that were designed to favour the interior rather than the exterior. In contrast to the plain appearance of the outside, the interior of the building is lined with coloured marble, and the walls are marked by seven deep recesses, screened by pairs of columns whose modest size gives scale to the immensity of the rotunda. Rectangular coffers, or indentations, were cut in the ceiling, probably under Severus, and decorated with bronze rosettes and molding.

Trevi Fountain, Italian Fontana di Trevi, fountain in Rome that is considered a late Baroque masterpiece and is arguably the best known of the city’s numerous fountains. It was designed by Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762. According to legend, those who toss coins into its waters will return to Rome.

The fountain is located in Rome’s Trevi district, abutting the Palazzo Poli. An earlier fountain on the site was demolished in the 17th century, and a design competition for a new fountain was won by Nicola Salvi in 1732. His creation was a scenic wonder. The idea of combining the palace front and fountain was derived from a project by Pietro da Cortona, but the grand pageantry of the fountain’s central triumphal arch with its mythological and allegorical figures, natural rock formations, and gushing water was Salvi’s. The Trevi Fountain took some 30 years to complete, and after Salvi’s death in 1751, Giuseppe Pannini, who slightly altered the original scheme, oversaw its completion in 1762.

The immense fountain stands some 85 feet (26 metres) high and is approximately 160 feet (49 metres) wide. At its centre is Pietro Bracci’s statue of Oceanus, who stands atop a chariot pulled by sea horses and is accompanied by tritons. The fountain also features statues of Abundance and Health. Its water, from the ancient aqueduct called Acqua Vergine, long was considered Rome’s softest and best tasting; for centuries, barrels of it were taken every week to the Vatican. However, the water is now nonpotable.The coins that are thrown into its water are collected daily and donated to charity.