18 Oct

How is History made active?

Rome is full of history and therefore attracts tourists from all over the world to see its monuments. Unfortunately this means that Rome has fenced off its monuments and let them sit there, unused except as a photo point for tourists. This however was not always the case. When you look at the Teatro de Marcello you no longer see a theatre but housing built inside the shell of what was once a theatre. The Colosseum was used similarly but has sense been cleaned up and shows off its original function. Teatro de Marcelo is made active because it is still being used, its function might have changed but you can see the layers of history. The Colosseum on the other hand is no longer active and only has activity going on around it. Many buildings in Rome have found that they have history underneath their foundations. Most of these buildings simply made those ruins open and visible to the public. This is getting closer to making history active. So far the best example I have found, besides the Teatro de Marcelo, are the aqua ducts. Many of them have been destroyed and their fragments are used for parks or the back wall of a house but a few have been restored and are still used for bringing water to the city of Rome today. Although this is their original function, the fact that they were reused rather then constructing something new, makes the old, original aqueduct made active once more.