What Happened to the Colosseum After the Fall of Rome?
The Colosseum’s medieval history is a story of transformation. Between the last recorded spectacle in AD 523 and its eventual consecration as a Christian site in 1749, the amphitheatre functioned at various times as a fortress held by the powerful Frangipani family, as commercial space with workshops and housing in its arcades, as a burial ground, as a quarry supplying stone for St Peter’s Basilica and several Roman palaces, and — progressively — as a Christian pilgrimage site associated with martyrdom. The building we see today is the product of this thousand-year repurposing, and much of what is missing was lost not to earthquake or neglect but to systematic reuse by the city around it.
Medieval Colosseum Timeline
- AD 523: Last recorded venatio, under Theodoric
- 6th–8th centuries: building falls out of active use; limited documentation
- c. AD 1000: commercial and residential use in lower arcades documented
- 12th century: Frangipani family fortifies the structure as a castle
- 1349: major earthquake collapses the southern outer wall
- 14th–17th centuries: systematic quarrying for building materials
- 1744: Quarrying formally prohibited by Pope Benedict XIV
- 1749: Benedict XIV consecrates the site as sacred to Christian martyrs
What Was the Colosseum Used for in the Early Middle Ages?
The first several centuries after the last games are poorly documented. Rome itself contracted dramatically during the sixth and seventh centuries — from perhaps a million inhabitants at the empire’s peak to a few tens of thousands by the Gothic Wars’ aftermath — and the infrastructure that had sustained the Colosseum’s original function disappeared along with its population.
Surviving references suggest limited use. The structure became progressively overgrown, filled with silt from heavy rains, and occupied at its edges by modest commercial activity. Stonemasons reused fragments of its travertine and marble for smaller projects; householders built lean-to structures against its walls. The amphitheatre was too large and too prominently located to disappear, but it was also too vast and too expensive to maintain.
A 7th-century source, the Venerable Bede, attributes to a group of Anglo-Saxon pilgrims a Latin couplet: Quamdiu stat Coliseus, stat et Roma; quando cadet Coliseus, cadet et Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus — “As long as the Colosseum stands, Rome will stand; when the Colosseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome falls, the world will fall.” Whether the couplet originated with Bede or a contemporary, it indicates that by the eighth century the Colosseum already symbolised Rome itself for pilgrims from beyond the Alps.
Who Were the Frangipani?
The Frangipani were a powerful Roman family during the eleventh through thirteenth centuries, controlling substantial portions of central Rome including the Palatine Hill, the Arch of Constantine and — at various points — the Colosseum itself. They were a major political force in medieval Rome, frequently involved in papal elections, feuds with rival families like the Colonna, and the broader struggle between papal and imperial authority.
During the twelfth century, the Frangipani fortified the Colosseum and adjoining structures as a castle. Evidence of their occupation survives in architectural modifications: specific arches were walled up to create defensible chambers, and the outer structure was adapted to accommodate residential and military use. The amphitheatre became one of several fortified strongpoints the family used to dominate the surrounding neighbourhood.
Frangipani control of the Colosseum ended after extended conflicts with rival families and the papacy. The fortification remained partly intact for some time but was progressively dismantled as the political situation changed, with portions of the structure handed between different authorities across the later medieval period.
What Did the 1349 Earthquake Do?
The earthquake of 1349, which struck central Italy with devastating effect, caused the collapse of the southern portion of the Colosseum’s outer ring wall. This single event is responsible for the building’s most visible feature today: the stark asymmetry between the intact northern façade (which preserves the original four storeys) and the lower, truncated southern side (where the outer ring is gone and only the inner structural walls remain).
The 1349 earthquake also damaged several other Roman monuments, including parts of the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum and portions of old St Peter’s Basilica. The Colosseum’s partial collapse was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of seismic damage to the city’s surviving classical infrastructure.
Critically, the fallen stone was not removed or restored. Instead, it became a quarry resource. Over the next three centuries, the collapsed material from the 1349 event and subsequent deterioration was systematically harvested for use in Rome’s major Renaissance and Baroque building projects. The absence of the southern wall today is the result of both the earthquake and two subsequent centuries of deliberate reuse.
How Was the Colosseum Used as a Quarry?
Systematically, and on a massive scale. From the late medieval period through the early modern period, the Colosseum supplied building material for several of Rome’s most iconic structures. Travertine blocks, marble facings, iron cramps, lead fittings and brick were all extracted and redeployed.
Major Buildings Partly Built with Colosseum Stone
- St Peter’s Basilica: substantial travertine reused during the sixteenth-century rebuilding
- Palazzo Venezia: one of the first major Renaissance palaces in Rome, built with Colosseum travertine in the 1450s–1460s
- Palazzo Farnese: Michelangelo’s commission, using material from the Colosseum and the Theatre of Marcellus
- Palazzo Barberini: seventeenth-century palace, with Colosseum-sourced stone incorporated
- Various churches: numerous Roman churches include recycled Colosseum material in walls, columns and decorative elements
The iron cramps that had bound the original travertine blocks were extracted for their metal value, producing the distinctive pockmarks visible across the surviving façade. Every hole was once a cramp socket; each was emptied during the medieval and Renaissance period by workers who scavenged the iron for reuse or resale. The marble seating that had once tiered the interior was ground down for lime, used as mortar for medieval and early modern construction. Very little of the original interior decorative stonework survives above ground.
When Did the Quarrying Stop?
Formal prohibition came in 1744 under Pope Benedict XIV. His edict banned further extraction of stone from the Colosseum, framing the decision partly in terms of conserving classical heritage and partly in terms of religious protection: the site had accumulated status as a place of Christian martyrdom, and quarrying it was incompatible with its sacred meaning.
Five years later, in 1749, Benedict XIV formally consecrated the Colosseum as sacred ground and erected fourteen Stations of the Cross within the arena. The twin acts — the 1744 quarrying ban and the 1749 consecration — together ended the building’s status as a legitimate source of reusable stone and established its identity as a heritage and pilgrimage site. Without these interventions, further quarrying would almost certainly have continued, and considerably less of the Colosseum might survive today.
What Does the Medieval Colosseum Still Show Today?
Several features of the current building date to the medieval period rather than antiquity.
The Frangipani Modifications
Walled-up arches, internal divisions and residential chambers from the twelfth-century fortification remain partly visible in specific sections of the structure. Modern tour guides can point out where the medieval additions interact with the original Roman masonry.
The Asymmetry
The contrast between the full-height northern façade and the lower southern side is the direct legacy of the 1349 earthquake and the subsequent quarrying. This asymmetry defines the building’s silhouette today.
The Cramp Sockets
The small pockmarks visible across the surviving travertine are the cavities left by iron cramp extraction during the medieval and Renaissance period. They cover most of the surviving outer wall and are a clear physical record of the quarrying history.
The Cross and Stations
The cross inside the amphitheatre, erected in 1926 but occupying the space designated sacred by Benedict XIV in 1749, marks the Christian devotional function that the medieval period gradually established and the early modern period formalised.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Colosseum used in the Middle Ages?
Yes, in various ways. Medieval uses included commercial and residential occupation, fortress status under the Frangipani family, burial ground, and eventually Christian pilgrimage site. The building never fully fell out of use; its function simply changed.
Why is half the Colosseum missing?
The southern outer wall collapsed in the earthquake of 1349. The fallen stone was subsequently quarried for use in major Roman buildings including St Peter’s Basilica, Palazzo Venezia, Palazzo Farnese and Palazzo Barberini. The absence today is the product of natural disaster followed by systematic reuse.
Who lived in the Colosseum during the Middle Ages?
Documentation suggests a mix of occupants over several centuries: small commercial tenants in the lower arcades, the Frangipani family and their retainers during their fortress period, and various householders who built against the walls. The Colosseum was never a single-use building during the medieval period.
Who stopped the Colosseum being destroyed?
Pope Benedict XIV, through his 1744 quarrying ban and 1749 consecration. These twin acts ended the systematic extraction of stone and established the building’s protected religious status, preventing further loss and paving the way for modern conservation.
Was the Colosseum used as a burial ground?
Yes, at various points during the medieval period. Burials both inside and around the structure are attested in various sources, reflecting the general medieval practice of burying close to sacred or significant sites.
See the Medieval Layers on a Guided Tour
Our Colosseum tours include the medieval and early modern history alongside the ancient Roman narrative, pointing out the physical traces of fortress, quarry and shrine that survive in the structure today. Understanding the thousand years between the last games and the modern era changes how the building reads to visitors.