They looted the old structures (what was left to loot) then peed on them and said, “These are mine now.” (A professor I had once said, “What the barbarians didn’t do, the Barberini’s did.”)
On one hand, it helped preserve some significant and important art/architecture.
On the other hand they looted, “christ-washed”, and destroyed so much. Even their own art over the centuries.
If you go on Pentecost, they do this thing where they drop rose petals through the oculus at the end of the mass. Something something symbolizes tongues of fire.
Edit: the Colosseum is also technically a Catholic church.
Not to be confused with the Parthenon (a centuries-older ancient Greek temple with especially interesting geometry) or the Parthenon replica in the United States.
HOLY SHIT I have been there and as a student of history I literally shed some tears at its beauty but was kind of also pissed because you could just look outside and see traffic and everything modern. To me it is the closest I will ever get to Rome. But even if I went I would probably be labeled a fanatic or mentally messed up for crying at the beauty of it or be arrested for feeling the architecture . Knowing the history and all the tales and everything would just be to overwhelming. Why I would love to visit I think it would probably be a huge let down for me because I built it up so much in my head. And call me crazy but if a god does exist I would say going would be the closest to get to god. And yes I am not counting churches.
It’s also one of the most breathtakingly beautiful buildings in the world. I dare anyone with eyes to stand under the oculus when the sun shines through and not be overwhelmed by its beauty.
The fact that it’s standing intact, pretty much exactly the way it was when it was built by the Romans, is incredibly impressive. They knew how to concrete.
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