Colosseum from the outside

Nobody needs to be told what the Colosseum is; what is less obvious is that the best photographs of it are taken from outside, for free, from the streets and gardens that ring it. Inside you are in the building and cannot see it. Outside you can put the whole arc behind a person and still stand close enough for a portrait.

Three positions do most of the work. The terrace at the top of Via Nicola Salvi, coming down from the Colle Oppio park, gives the classic elevated three-quarter view with the arches stacked. The pavement on Via Celio Vibenna, on the south side, is lower and wider and lets you shoot upwards so the wall fills the sky. And the corner by the Arch of Constantine puts two monuments in one frame without a wide lens.

Go at sunrise. The travertine is warm-toned at any hour, but at dawn it is lit from the east straight onto the outer wall, the traffic on the ring road is thin, and the ticket queues have not formed. By nine the whole circuit is a moving crowd. Costumed centurions work the north side all day and will ask for money if they end up in a frame — walk on rather than argue.