Via dei Fori Imperiali - Rome, Italy - A View toward the Colosseum

An elevated view from the Vittoriano follows Via dei Fori Imperiali toward the Colosseum, surrounded by umbrella pines and the monuments of ancient Rome.

Via dei Fori Imperiali stretches through the archaeological heart of Rome toward the Colosseum, seen here from an elevated viewpoint on the Vittoriano. The ancient amphitheatre dominates the distant center of the photograph, while umbrella pines and the monumental ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine frame the avenue on its approach to the Colosseum. Via dei Fori Imperiali runs for approximately 900 metres between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, crossing an area containing some of the most important remains of Imperial Rome. The avenue itself is considerably younger than the monuments surrounding it: it was created in the early 1930s and inaugurated in 1932 as Via dell'Impero, requiring extensive demolition of the existing Alessandrino neighborhood and major alterations to the archaeological landscape. Renamed Via dei Fori Imperiali after the Second World War, it now provides one of Rome's most dramatic urban perspectives, linking the modern city directly with the surviving monuments of its ancient past.