Much as we would like to believe that the Colosseum is a relatively well preserved artefact of ancient Rome, the later uses and abuses through the centuries are also visible. For example, there is a Christian cross right in your face when you walk through the main entrance, certainly something that would never been there in the time of Titus. The Colosseum has been a cemetery, a quarry, housing and workshops, a castle... you name it, it's been used as it.

The result is that the Colosseum that we see today is really a layered composition, something that I tried to capture in this image. In addition to the layers of stone, I notice that there is a very slight layer of cloud just over the far wall. That's quite remarkable considering that we barely saw any cloud at all during our trip. (Or at least not the Italian leg of it.)