In 30 BC, Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, initiated the tradition of importing Egyptian obelisks. The arrival of the first two obelisks sparked a wave of excitement among the Romans. So much so that even the barges that brought them to Rome were put on display. Over time, these obelisks were utilized by the Romans in various ways, particularly by 16th-century popes, who incorporated them in several urban projects.

The relocation of these monumental obelisks was indeed a colossal task. One notable example is St. Peter’s obelisk, which required the combined efforts of nearly 1,000 men, 150 horses, and several cranes for its repositioning.

The Egyptian Obelisks of Rome: A Close Look

Piazza del Popolo

Standing proudly in Piazza del Popolo is an obelisk from the reign of Seti I (1318–1304 BC). This obelisk was one of the first to be brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC to adorn the Circus Maximus.

Piazza Navona

The Piazza Navona houses a unique red granite obelisk with 1st-century imitation-Egyptian hieroglyphics. This obelisk was moved here from Circus Maxentius by Innocent X.

Egyptian obelisk in Piazza Navona

Piazza Minerva

This piazza is home to the smallest obelisk in Rome, a 6th-century BC Egyptian red-granite structure. This obelisk originally stood at the nearby Temple of Isis.

Piazza Minerva

Piazza della Trinita dei Monti

Atop the famous Spanish Steps, you can find an obelisk from the 3rd-2nd century BC. Its hieroglyphics were added in Rome and were copied from the obelisk in nearby Piazza del Popolo.

Piazza della Trinita dei Monti – Obelisk

Piazza dell Esquilino and Piazza del Quirinale

These piazzas hold twin obelisks that were originally part of Augustus’ mausoleum. Interestingly, neither of these obelisks have hieroglyphics.

Piazza della Rotunda

The Pantheon square houses a 13th-century BC, red granite monolith from Ramses II. This monolith also decorated the Temple of Isis.

Piazza della Rotonda, Pantheon, Rome

Piazza di Montecitorio

This piazza houses one of the first two obelisks brought to Rome by Augustus, which was used as a giant sundial. This obelisk hails from the reign of Psammetichos II (595–589 BC) at Heliopolis.

St. John Lateran

This location is home to the oldest obelisk in Rome, crafted in 1504–1450 BC. This red granite monolith stands an impressive 105.6 feet tall, making it the tallest obelisk in existence.

Pincio Gardens, on the Piazza Napoleon

This garden houses an obelisk made in Rome by Emperor Hadrian to adorn the funeral monument of his beloved Antinous (2nd century AD).

Villa Celimontana

This residence holds the sister obelisk to the one at the Pantheon. After it fell at the Capitoline Hill, it was repurposed as a step up to S. Maria in Aracoeli.

Piazza dei Cinquecento

This piazza near the train station is home to an Egyptian obelisk discovered near S. Maria Sopra Minerva in the late 1800s.

Piazza San Pietro

This piazza houses a massive obelisk first erected in Alexandria by Augustus. This obelisk was brought to Rome in 37 AD for the Vatican Circus.

Obelisk in Rome – Piazza San Pietro

Modern Obelisks

In addition to these ancient obelisks, you can also find a modern obelisk made from Carrara marble at the Foro Italico. This obelisk was commissioned by Mussolini for a sporting event.

Rome, with its blend of ancient and modern obelisks, offers a fascinating glimpse into the past. These magnificent structures serve as silent witnesses to the city’s rich history and the profound influence of the Egyptian culture on Roman urban design. As you walk through the streets of Rome, remember to look up and appreciate these timeless masterpieces.

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The Superiority of Private Tours

Visiting the Colosseum, an iconic symbol of ancient Rome, is an unparalleled experience, and the type of tour you choose can significantly influence your enjoyment.

The standard Colosseum ticket costs 18 euros, allowing entrance but leaving you mostly on your own. Alternatively, you might opt for a 30-40 person group tour, priced usually between 60-70 euros. This offers guidance and historical context but can feel impersonal due to the large group size. For those seeking a more intimate and engaging experience, private Colosseum tours are available.

Though more expensive due to the exclusivity, these tours are either individual or for small private groups, such as 4 or 6 persons, providing a more attentive and responsive tour guide. In the often crowded atmosphere of the Colosseum, especially in the bustling summer season when up to 3000 people might be present at once, private tours offer a much-improved travel experience. Attendees can easily ask questions and fully absorb the guide’s knowledge without the distractions of a larger crowd.

The personalized attention also ensures that families with young children are well-catered for. Thus, while standard Colosseum tickets and group tours offer affordability and broad historical insight, private tours stand out as an optimal choice for those desiring a more enriching and personalized journey through this ancient amphitheater.

Colosseum Private Tours

Interior of the Roman Colosseum – Colosseum Private Tours

Book Colosseum Private Tours

Our platform, Colosseum Rome Tickets, is dedicated to providing a comparative overview of hundreds of Colosseum tours and ticket prices. The tours featured on our website can be compared not only in terms of price but also based on the ratings of participants. Almost all of the tours we feature on our website are rated at least 4.5 stars out of 5, and we do not include Colosseum tours that have received negative feedback from participants. We understand that when reserving a tour, user feedback is just as critical as the cost. That’s why we collate the best of Colosseum Private Tours for you. Scroll below to explore these options.

Alternatives of Colosseum Private Tours

Colosseum Early Morning Tours:

• Time of Day: Usually conducted before the Colosseum opens to the public, early morning tours provide an exclusive view of this ancient structure.
• Group Size: Typically organized for small groups, making it an intimate and special experience.
• Seasonal Benefit: Particularly beneficial during the hot summer season in Rome. Exploring the Colosseum in the early hours avoids the scorching heat of midday.
• Experience: Offers an experience akin to a private tour, allowing visitors to explore without the crowds.

Colosseum Night Tours:

• Time of Day: Conducted after the Colosseum is closed to large crowds, the night tours enable visitors to see the amphitheater in a tranquil setting.
• Group Size: Limited in number, ensuring a more personalized and serene experience.
• Seasonal Benefit: Like the early morning tours, night tours are a logical choice in the sweltering summer months, allowing exploration in cooler temperatures.
• Experience: An extraordinary opportunity to see the Colosseum under the stars, offering a magical and different perspective.

Colosseum Underground Tours:

• Coverage: The most comprehensive option, including the Colosseum itself, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Hypogeum (the underground sections of the Colosseum).
• Access: Since access to the Colosseum’s underground is highly restricted, these tours are exclusive but come at a higher price.
• Experience: Similar to private tours, the underground tours present a more personalized experience and allow in-depth exploration.
• Unique Feature: Offers an unparalleled view of the underbelly of the Colosseum, something not included in standard tours.

Exploring Beyond the Colosseum

If your budget allows, we highly recommend booking a private tour encompassing the entirety of Rome. Beyond the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, there is so much more to the city waiting to be discovered. With a well-informed guide at your disposal, you’ll explore Rome in its entirety, free from the hassles of direction-finding, ticket purchasing, and navigating through the crowds. We’ve also compiled the best Rome Private Tours for you. Our top picks for the best Colosseum Private Tours and Rome Private Tours are below:

In conclusion, Colosseum Private Tours offer a superior, personalized, and flexible experience. So why not make the most of your Roman adventure with a private tour? You’ll be investing not just in a tour, but in memories that will last a lifetime.

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The Cattedrale has a Baroque façade by Girolamo Fontana (1690-1714). The Cbiesa del Gesti is attributed to Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669). The Villa Aldobrandini consists of a magnificent palace by Giacomo della Porta (1533-1602), Carlo Maderno and Giovanni Fontana (1540-1614), and a huge terraced park with spectacular “Teatro delle Acque” fountains.

Villa Torlonia – Frascati

The Villa Falconieri was erected in the mid-16th cent. but rebuilt later by Francesco Borromini (1599-1667). The palace of the Villa Tuscolana or Ruffinella was built by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773).

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The first courtyard leads to the Monastery where there is a museum containing remains of the old church, 15-18th cent. paintings, Byzantine objects and archeological remains from Etuscan and Roman times.

The facade of the church of St. Mary, consecrated in 1025 but com-pletely modified in the mid-18th cent., looks out onto the second courtyard.

A colonnaded portico stands in front of the west entrance with a Byzantine marble doorway and mosaic lunette. To the left is a baptismal font (9-11th cent.). The 12th cent. Romanesque campanile is composed of five orders of three-mullioned windows. The basilica-style interior, with a nave and two aisles, has a Cosmatesque pavement and a coffered ceiling (16th cent.); the triumphal arch is decorated with 13th cent. mosaics depicting the Pentecost, while the upper part of the nave is covered with Byzantine-type frescoes. The chapel of St. Linus contains frescoes by Domenico Zampieri called Domenichino (1581-1614).

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The Palazzo Ruspoli, formerly Baronale preserves tempera pictures by Liborio Coccetti (lived in the 18-19th cent.) and, finally, the Cappella della Crocifissione.

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The Forte Michelangelo is a solid Renaissance building. It was begun in 1508 by Donato Bramante (1444-1514), for Pope Julius II, continued by Antonio da San-gallo the Younger (1483-1546), and completed in 1557 by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564).

Civitavecchia -Forte Michelangelo

Rectangular in shape, with four large cylindrical towers at each corner, and an octagonal keep, it has a vast, graceful courtyard inside. The Museo Civico has sections devoted to the early iron age, the Etruscan period (notice the Kylix by an artist signing himself as Hyschilos, of the 6th cent. B.C.), and Roman and medieval periods (notice the 15-16th cent. ceramics).

The Cattedrale is dedicated to St. Francis and dates back to the second half of the 17th cent. It has a sober exterior, with a facade in two orders divided by half-columns, and a stately, aisleless interior. There are remains of a large Roman building Edificio Romano, presumably used as a military head-quarters. Excursion to the Terme Taurine, with two buildings, one of the 1st cent. B.C., and the other of the first half of the 2nd cent., providing a most interesting group of Roman remains, completely excavated in the early 1950’s. Excursion to the Torre Bertolda or Sant’Agostino, a popular seaside resort.

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The sanctuary of the Madonna del Buonconsiglio, originally built in the 13th cent., modified during the first half of the 17th, and restored during the second half of the 19th, has a neo-Classical facade with a 15th cent. doorway. Inside, is a 15th cent. Gothic-Renaissance-style canopy supported by columns.

The Gothic Cam Apolloni is one of the most beautiful buildings in Latium; it has a low-arched main doorway, three mullioned windows on the first floor, and three single apertures on the second.

The church of San Paolo, modified in the 18th cent. and flanked by a remarkable Romanesque bell-tower, contains a baptismal font (1563), a medieval holy-water stoup supported by a small spiral column, and a Renaissance holy-water stoup.

The medieval Castello Colonna, rebuilt in the 15th cent. by Ottone Colonna, who later became Pope Martin V, was modified in Baroque style and has a spectacular courtyard with a fountain and ancient water-tank.

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It is a sturdy, square, brick construction standing on the coast. Torre Astura is an oustanding castle built on the seashore, historically asso-ciated with Corradino di Svevia (1252-1268).

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Cerveteri Necropoli Banditaccia.

In the Municipio is a panel of a Saint by Perin del Vaga (1501-1547), and a 16th cent. Flemish triptych depicting the Adoration of the Magi. The Necropoli di Cerveteri, together with that of Tarquinia, is the most important of its kind. Exploration began in the mid-19th cent., and was intensified at the beginning of the present one.

The 8th cent. B.C. tombs are open in the rock, the 7th cent. B.C. ones have stone covers and mounds, those from the 6th to the 2nd cent. B.C. are in the form of rooms with a vestibule, while those of the 4th-lst cent. B.C. are hypogea without mounds.

Banditaccia Tomba Dei Capitelli

Cerveteri

Villa Giulia Sarcofago degli sposi.

Mention can be made here of the tomb of the Capitals, the tomb of the Funeral Beds, the tomb of the House with thatched Roof, which is the most ancient of all; the tomb of the Dolii, the tomb of the Reliefs, also known as the Beautiful Tomb, the most interesting one in the whole necro-polis, belonging to a Matuuna family, as the recently-deciphered Etruscan inscription reveals; the tomb of the Little House, made up of six communicating compartments, and the tomb of the Cornice; further off, outside the confines of the necropolis of Cerveteri, is the tomb of Marce Ursus, the tomb of the Greek Vases, the raised mound of the Colonel, the tumulus of Ophelia Maroi, from which Greek and Etruscan vases of the 6th cent. B.C. have been taken; the tomb of the Doric Columns, the tumulus of the Shields and Chairs, where there are small thrones and funeral beds, the tomb of the Painted Lions, and the Tumulus of the Painted Animals, with numerous com-partments, the tumulus of the Ship in a room containing a picture of a ship, the tomb of the Sarcophaghi, with three alabaster sarcophaghi, the tomb of the Triclinium, the tomb of the Inscriptions or of the Tarquins, the tomb of the Alcove, etc.

The Necropoli del Sorbo is a large ancient burial-ground, with individual tombs; in the Regolini-Galassi tomb (named after the scholars who explored it in 1837) there were a large number of fine oriental-style ornaments of the 6th cent. B.C. which have been transferred to the Gregorian Etruscan Museum. In the Necropoli di Monte Abetone, situated on tufa rocks, are the Campana tomb, and the TorIonia tumulus, with the tomb of the Chairs.

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Bracciano

The Castello Orsini-Odescalchi, built by the Orsini family in the latter half of the 14th cent., is a proud example of military archi-tecture and noble residences. Built on a pen-tagonal plan, with stout cylindrical towers, it has a 16th cent, portal relieving the mass of the encircling wall.

Inside is a huge fresco, probably carried out by Antoniazzo Romano (recorded 1435-1517). A fine external staircase, with columns, leads to the upper floor, and numerous rooms containing fairly good works of art. The 14th cent, church of Santo Stefano was rebuilt in the 17th cent. It has a simple Baroque facade, flanked by a 16th cent. belltower. The Baroque interior has a nave and two aisles, and contains some works of art, such as St. Jehoshaphat in the desert, by Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746), a triptych of the Saviour, signed “Graegorius et Donatus de Aretiome fecerunt anno Domini MCCCXV”, Martyrdom of St. Stephen, by Giovanni Battista Wicar (1762-1834), and a crowded painting by Domenico Zampieri called Domenichino (1581-1641).

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