At the beginning of the 19th century, Pope Pius VII issued two edicts to protect Rome’s artistic heritage and commissioned the first restorations of the Colosseum. On the east side of the façade, a large brick spur was built to halt the deterioration of a collapsing wall. Its designers were the architects Raffaele Stern, Giuseppe Palazzi, and Giuseppe Camporesi. The work also included filling in some of the arches, preserving their state of collapse. Although the intervention drew much criticism at the time, it was the first and fundamental restoration of the Colosseum and is now known as the Stern Spur.

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse