The long-awaited proposal to renovate the Colosseum’s arena was recently approved by the Italian government.

Visitors would be able to stand where gladiators and wild animals once battled under the new initiative.

The Colosseum amphitheater is the most well-known of Rome’s famous and ancient monuments, towering high as the city’s landmark.

The freestanding stone building, which was inaugurated by Emperor Titus in 80 AD, was the center of entertainment where 35,000 ruthless Romans would fight.

The arena had a wooden floor and was built on top of an underground network of tunnels where wild animals were caged and gladiators’ stage sets were built.

2,000 years later, and Roman officials and Culture Minister Franceschini first mention and endorse the concept of re-constructing the arena for daily, less bloody cultural activities.

The monument arena currently lacks a floor, which was removed in the 6th century after the final gladiator battles.

The basement was also filled in, but archaeologists in the 19th century excavated it, revealing the subterranean depths for the first time to the public.

Visitors today can gaze down into this excavated and complex basement, but they will fail to comprehend its history.

The project of the colosseum’s new floor

Milan Ingegneria, an engineering and architecture company, won the 18.5 million euro contract to build the new structure. It was one of ten companies competing for the prestigious contract. Hundreds of organic, rotational, and wooden planks will be installed around a 3,000-square-meter floor in their winning design. Light and air will be able to enter the underground excavations as a result of this. Trap doors and secret lifts are likely to be included in the project, which is expected to begin next year. Franceschini went on to say that the new flooring needs to be able to easily cover the underground networks below in order to keep the rain out.

Prior to the pandemic, the monument drew 7.6 million visitors per year. Due to the lifting of coronavirus limits, the Colosseum is now open to the public, with a daily limit of 1,260 visitors. By 2023, it is expected that the surface will be completed, and the daily visitor count will return to tens of thousands.