The Haunted Colosseum

I love Italy. One of my dreams is to be able to travel to Italy and see majestic architecture and eat good food. One of the most representative buildings of Rome is the colosseum. As you can see in the picture above, it is an architectural wonder that seems to hide an interesting past that comes back to life trough ghosts or spirits. The colosseum is the largest Amphitheatre ever built, and it could hold even 80,000 spectators (would be a Petri dish for coronavirus). As we all know, the colosseum was used as a gladiatorial contest space and other public spectacles. After the early medieval era it was reused for religious orders, a Christian shrine and as a fortress. This structure was also a place where epic battles occurred between gladiators and public executions were frequent.

It is speculated that in average 500 thousand to one million human deaths occurred inside of this structure. Not only people died, also animals were part of the show of death. Often times there were public executions and hunting spectacles, which makes it a place charged with history and possibly lots of sad and angry souls that come back in the shape of different spirits. Passers-by, staff and visitors have reported paranormal activity, such as seeing a roman soldier during the night, as protecting the colosseum. Other people reports seeing crowds in the stadium that cheer and then disappear. If that happens to me, I would run straight to the psychiatrist for an evaluation!

The most frequent paranormal activity is associated with sounds more than apparitions. People in Rome reports to hear noises of people in pain, like moans and screams that might be from past prisoners that suffered terrible atrocities. People have also reported sounds of wounded animals that might be related with the fact of leftover energy from animals in pain after being hunted as a sport. There are also reports of people feeling dropping temperatures, light interruptions and orbs flying around.

The presence of so much paranormal phenomena is also related to different dark and historical elements. In medieval times, romans had the belief that the coliseum was one of the seven doors that lead to hell. During these times it was also thought that some evil lovers built a temple inside of the colosseum that was dedicated to Beelzebum. Beelzebum is best known as the “prince of all demons” in the bible. It is also known that the poet Virgil, who was a necromancer (a wizard or magician) used to perform magic rituals inside of the coliseum. It was also thought that witches and sorcerers used to meet at the coliseum at the XVth century to prepare potions with local herbs. The following is a portrait of Virgil the poet.

The Colosseum can also be associated with the prophecy of the end of the world. Bede the Venerable was an English Benedictine monk that wrote historic books, and he mentions in one of his books a prophecy that states that when the Colosseum collapse, Rome will end, and then, the world will end as well. Some historians interpret this prophecy as a pagan warning against the triumph of Christianity over the roman empire. Finally, there was also the legend that the emperor Nero used to sleigh the Christians inside the arena, but this was denied at the end. Bede the venerable is shown in the image beyond.

In conclusion, this building looks magnificent and full of history and energy that I wish I could go visit one day. It is interesting to observe how such a beautiful structure served through the centuries for different purposes depending on the historic era and the social and religious beliefs of the time. The building stands there as a reminder that no matter what happens or how much time passes by, the structure will remain standing for poets, wizards, kings, artists and murderers! (as well as spirits). If you want to watch the colliseum at night, there's a great video on Youtube of Amy's Cript, a woman that travels and goes to haunted places in the world (My dream job was taken already):