Roman Colosseum, Italy

Built by the Flavian dynasty and completed in 80AD, the colosseum was designed to hold 50,000 spectators of Roman gladiatorial contests and games. Despite hundreds of years of damage from earthquakes and theft of the marble coverings and stone blocks for building materials, the colosseum today is still as imposing an icon in the center of Rome as it was in Imperial times.

Having an area of over 6 acres, the colosseum originally measured 190 meters long and 155 meters wide, the walls stood 48 meters high, the arena itself measured 83 meters by 48 meters, just a little smaller than a modern football field.

In recent centuries the building has been protected by the Roman Catholic Church as a sacred site where early Christians had been martyred, and restorations efforts have negun aimed at protecting what remains of this magnificent structure.