Roman Rome - awesome sites left behind by the Romans

I'm a massive fan of Roman history, and in particular of their built legacy. The things they have left behind are quite incredible when you consider how long ago their civilization flourished. When visiting Rome back in October I was in my element, and just could not get enough of the various Roman sites around the city.

Above is the Portico d'Ottavia. We had not seen it on our previous trip to Rome. What I loved about it, is that its just there - you turn a corner and there it is. If it were in any other city, it would be a museum or a tourist attraction all in its own right. But in Rome its just another fantastic thing to see, in amongst a huge list of other fantastic things !

I found the portico very pretty, and we went past it quite a few times, just to take it in again !

Above is the Theatre of Marcello, which was one of my new fav discoveries during this last trip (it was just round the corner from the Portico). Its an old theatre which was then re-purposed for other uses, inc living accommodation, hundreds of years later. Imagine living in a Roman theatre !

Above is a pic from the vaults underneath Castel Sant Angelo. The vaults were built as a mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian, with the castel above then being built on top of those over the years. Of all the places I have visited, these vaults felt the oldest. When you walked in, it just felt like you really had stepped back in time to the start of history.

The model above gives an idea of what the Roman parts of the Castel look like.

And its impossible not to mention the colosseum - what a place - just incredible. Its huge, and the level of detail is amazing. Its construction was so massive, that it took for separate construction companies to build it - a quarter each in parallel !

Above is a photo of a part of the colosseum walls from the inside -there is so much going on. Travertine blocks, red bricks, arches, supporting other arches, etc - amazing !

Then next to the colosseum you have the Arch of Constantine, which is remarkably well reserved.

And then wander up the Palatine Hill a little from there and you find the Arch of Tito.

The Palatine Hill site itself, is amazing. Its just a massive complex of Roman ruins that goes on and on. The picture above does not do it justice, but the Basilica of Maxentius, with the three large arches at the back of the picture is a colossal building, even for our time.

And on the Paletine Hill the ruins just go on and on. Above is the fountain of the Pelte, surrounded by various other palatial ruins !

And just off to the side of that, you get other massive structures -with those above being to one side of the Paletine Stadium !

The Pantheon is my absolute favourite (above) and we went to see that every day - its just the most awesome thing ever - inside and out, and is still a fully functioning church to this day.

And another new discovery for me on this trip was the beautiful bridge above, the Ponte Fabricio, built in 62 AD, and still in use ! Thats pretty good value for money - they are coming up on nearly 2000 years worth of use !!!

The pic above is in the Forum complex where you have the forums of Trajan, Augusto and Nerva, all in a row - again, another huge site.

Above is another site (Temple of Adriano) which has been preserved and incorporated into a modern building - quite impressive !

The site above was right next to our hotel, and just happens to be where Julius Ceasar was assassinated, and is now home to a colony of cats !

And above is just one part of the Temple of Venus and Rome, close to the colosseum - it must have looked amazing inside.

There was so much to see, and we didnt even get close to all Rome had to offer, missing out other large Roman sites like the Baths of Caracalla. Oh well, we'll just have to go back - cant wait !!!