Cecilia: from Rome to the Roman circus centre

For three weeks, Cecilia has been a Trust volunteer here at the Roman circus centre, while attending a course at the Colchester English Study Centre. She will be finishing on Friday and returning to Italy. Cecilia is a Roman. She was born in Rome, although she now lives in a small town just outside the city – Castel Gandolfo – and she commutes in to Rome to work. Cecilia loves Rome. Her first degree was in heritage and her second degree was in the history of art, and she works as a tour guide in Rome. Cecilia works for three tour companies and she leads tours for school groups and for adults, specialising in the history of art. She loves the history of Rome and her work although, she says, Italian tourists can ask some very difficult questions… Cecilia’s tours include museums, art galleries, churches and the Colosseum, the great Roman amphitheatre, and one of her tours is of Ostia Antica, the port of ancient Rome.

This is Cecilia’s third visit to Britain. She has been to many places here, including Bath, Brighton, London, Canterbury, and now Colchester. Cecilia liked the British Museum in London, especially its Roman collection. She liked Bath very much but she also very much likes historic Colchester. In Colchester, Cecilia has been on a guided tour of the town: this included the Roman town wall and the castle, but not the Roman circus centre! She has also been able to visit Dedham, the Wilkin & Sons visitor centre and tea room in Tiptree, Maldon, and Mersea Island – she likes Essex and the Essex coast. Cecilia has bought a copy of the Trust’s popular book City of Victory – the history of Colchester, Britain’s first Roman town, and she has already started reading it! Cecilia says that she likes the Roman circus centre and that she thinks that the Roman history of Colchester, and our Roman circus, are ‘interesting’, and the reconstructed circus starting-gates are ‘very interesting’. (Cecilia did lead visitors on two guided tours of the Roman circus centre and site while she was here…)

Thanks to Cecilia for your help and for allowing us to ‘interview’ you for this blog post today (27th January). We hope that you enjoyed your time in Colchester and at the Roman circus centre – and we very much enjoyed your company.

The image shows Cecilia reflecting on our circus super-model in the Roman circus centre, today.

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