Sign up for free

Newsletters

Once a month
get new photos
and expert tips.

Photography
Main Photo Galleries Wallpapers Photo of the Day Photographers Photo Tips Buy Prints

Colosseum Nightscape, Rome, Italy, 1970

"Memory-haunted arena of the ancients, Rome's 1,900-year-old Colosseum saw bloody gladiatorial duels, battles with wild beasts, and mock naval engagements on its flooded floor. Christians banned the spectacles, and in later centuries presented church dramas here. Time, earthquakes, and stone scavengers took their toll. Still, the treasured monument survived and again serves Rome—as a traffic circle. Cars at evening rush hour create streaks of light in this time exposure, which also captures horse-drawn carriages waiting at curbside for tourists."

—From "When in Rome," June 1970, National Geographic magazine

Photograph by Winfield I. Parks, Jr