Editing Colosseum (section)

=== Modern ===
[[File:Maarten van Heemskerck - Rome, the Colosseum.jpg|thumb|The Colosseum in the 1530s, sketched by [[Maarten van Heemskerck]], and used as the model for his later ''[[Self-Portrait with the Colosseum]]'' and ''[[Octo Mundi Miracula]]''.]]
[[File:Piranesi Kolosseum.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Overview of the interior of the Colosseum in a 1776 engraving by [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi]]]] 
[[File:Colosseum and Arch of Constantine (est. 1870).jpg|thumb|1870 view emphasizing the semi-rural environs of the Colosseum at the time]]
During the 16th and 17th century, Church officials sought a productive role for the Colosseum. [[Pope Sixtus V]] (1585–1590) planned to turn the building into a wool factory to provide employment for Rome's prostitutes, though this proposal fell through with his premature death.<ref>"Rome." ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006.</ref> In 1671, Cardinal [[Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni|Paluzzo Altieri]] authorized its use for [[bullfight]]s; a public outcry caused the idea to be hastily abandoned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=Karen J. |title=Art, Patronage, and Nepotism in Early Modern Rome |date=19 August 2022 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-63698-7 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hnh3EAAAQBAJ |access-date=17 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:The British Army on Leave in Italy, June 1944 TR1959.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Allied troops consult a guidebook outside the Colosseum after liberation in 1944]]

In 1749, [[Pope Benedict XIV]] endorsed the view that the Colosseum was a sacred site where early Christians had been [[martyr]]ed. He forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion of Christ]] and installed [[Stations of the Cross]], declaring it sanctified by the blood of the [[Persecution of early Christians by the Romans|Christian martyrs]] who perished there (''see [[#Significance in Christianity|Significance in Christianity]]'').

However, there is no historical evidence to support Benedict's claim, nor is there even any evidence that anyone before the 16th century suggested this might be the case; the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' concludes that there are no historical grounds for the supposition, other than the reasonably plausible conjecture that some of the many martyrs may well have been.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04101b.htm The Coliseum] in Catholic Encyclopedia</ref>
[[File:Cole Thomas Interior of the Colosseum Rome 1832.jpg|thumb|''Interior of the Colosseum, Rome'' (1832) by [[Thomas Cole]], showing the [[Stations of the Cross]] around the arena and the extensive vegetation]]

Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects, removing the extensive vegetation which had overgrown the structure and threatened to damage it further. The façade was reinforced with triangular brick wedges in 1807 and 1827, and the interior was repaired in 1831, 1846 and in the 1930s. The arena substructure was partly excavated in 1810–1814 and 1874 and was fully exposed under [[Benito Mussolini]] in the 1930s.<ref name="claridge"/>

The Colosseum is today one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions, receiving millions of visitors annually.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} The effects of pollution and general deterioration over time prompted a major restoration programme carried out between 1993 and 2000, at a cost of 40&nbsp;billion&nbsp;[[Italian lira|lire]] ($19.3&nbsp;million or €20.6&nbsp;million at 2000 prices).{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In recent years, the Colosseum has become a symbol of the international campaign against capital punishment, which was abolished in Italy in 1948. Several anti–death penalty demonstrations took place in front of the Colosseum in 2000. Since that time, as a gesture against the death penalty, the local authorities of Rome change the color of the Colosseum's night time illumination from white to gold whenever a person condemned to the death penalty anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released,<ref>{{Cite news |first=Gayle |last=Young |url=http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/views/y/2000/02/young.italydeath.feb24/ |title=On Italy's passionate opposition to death penalty |publisher=CNN |date=24 February 2000 |access-date=2 August 2006 |archive-date=13 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113142102/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/views/y/2000/02/young.italydeath.feb24/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> or if a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty. Most recently, the Colosseum was illuminated in gold in November 2012 following the abolishment of capital punishment in the American state of [[Connecticut]] in April 2012.<ref name="Death Penalty">{{cite web|title=International: Roman Colosseum Lit to Mark Connecticut's Abolition of Death Penalty|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/international-roman-colosseum-lit-mark-connecticuts-abolition-death-penalty|website=Death Penalty Info|access-date=9 June 2015}}</ref>

Because of the ruined state of the interior, it is impractical to use the Colosseum to host large events; only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated in temporary seating. However, much larger concerts have been held just outside, using the Colosseum as a backdrop. Performers who have played at the Colosseum in recent years have included [[Ray Charles]] (May 2002),<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/1983176.stm Colosseum stages peace concert], BBC News Online, 12 May 2002.</ref> [[Paul McCartney]] (May 2003),<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3019241.stm McCartney rocks the Colosseum], BBC News Online, 12 May 2003.</ref> [[Elton John]] (September 2005),<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4213352.stm Sir Elton's free gig thrills Rome], BBC News Online, 4 September 2005.</ref> and [[Billy Joel]] (July 2006).