The bowels of the Colosseum, the
underground tunnels where gladiators and wild beasts crouched
before being winched up to the killing floor, are visible as
never before thanks to a restoration funded by shoe giant Tod's.
"It has been a very complex job," said archaeological park
superintendent Alfonsina Russo of the 7,000-day restoration by
over 80 specialists including architects, restorers, geologists,
physicists, topographers, engineers and workers.
"This startling new view of the hypogeum is testimony to all
that happened under the amphitheatre's great arena from its
inauguration in 80 AD up to the last spectacle in 523 AD...it is
a monument inside the monument, now visitable on a 160-metre
snaking walkway".
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