Renovating the Colosseum in Rome

The Colosseum has a bright new look following a restoration using the same travertine marble of ancient Rome to recreate parts of columns from 2,000 years ago. Thousands of Romans once flocked to this arena to watch gladiators battle each other and wild animals. The structure still captures the public’s imagination; it is Italy’s most popular tourist destination, with 9 million visitors in 2025 alone. The project focused on a semicircular piazza outside the arena, where Roman spectators crowded under two arcades comprised of marble columns stretching up to 164 feet high. Those arches are long gone, collapsing over the centuries from earthquakes and unstable ground. But now, tourists will be able to sit on large travertine marble slabs where the columns once stood and read reproductions of the Roman numerals that indicated seat sections.