Rome’s Colosseum will open an underground passageway once used by Roman emperors to the public for the first time.
The Commodus Passage, located in the arena’s foundations, allowed emperors to enter the arena without being seen by crowds.
“The opening of the Commodus Passage is of extraordinary significance, not only because it makes accessible and accessible for the first time ever a place so fascinating for its history, its architecture, and, not least, its decorative apparatus, which during the time of the emperors was for exclusive use and hidden from the public, but also because, finally, for the first time, the restoration has fully restored the ancient surfaces,” wrote the Colosseum Archaeological Park.
The underground passage leads from the outside of the Colosseum to the pulvinar, a platform where Roman officials were seated at the arena’s southern end.
Colosseum tickets including the Commodus Passage will be available from the end of October.
The Commodus Passage also features frescoes illustrated with mythological scenes and events from Colosseum shows, which have been digitally reconstructed in areas where restoration was not possible.
Restoration and construction began in October 2024 and was completed in September 2025. It was financed by the European Union’s Next Generation EU economic recovery fund, as well as by the Colosseum Archaeological Park.
The passage was built between the end of the first century AD and the beginning of the second century, after the Colosseum was first opened in 80 AD. It was discovered in the 19th century.
It was named for Commodus, who reigned as sole emperor from 180 to 192 AD, as the Roman historian Cassius Dio recounts that Commodus survived an assassination attempt in a similar tunnel.
The Colosseum received 14.7 million visitors in 2024, the most of any attraction in Italy and rising sharply from the 12 million seen in 2023. The attraction earned around EU€100 million in ticket sales last year.
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