Monday 21 July 2014

The Colosseum 3D Puzzle (Ravensburger)

The Colosseum or the Flavian Amphitheatre is known as one of the wonders of the world. This elliptical monument, situated in the centre of Rome has been the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire. Many years ago I visited Rome and went to see the Roman Forum. The Colosseum nowadays is an ancient ruin, but it still is a marvel of the architecture which breathes history. In its heyday it could hold between 50 to 80 thousand spectators. It has seen unimaginable cruelty and bravery as it was used for the contests between the gladiators as well as public spectacles and executions. I am fascinated by the ancient Roman history. The Gladiator is one of my favourite movies, and I even named my son Maximus after the main protagonist. Imagine my delight when I was offered to review a 3d puzzle of The Colosseum (Ravensburger).



My hands were itching to build it, but as my older niece was coming to visit us for a month, I knew she would enjoy doing this super puzzle. And she did a stellar job.
The puzzle comes in a sturdy box, like the other puzzles from Ravensburger.



What do you find inside? There are 216 puzzle pieces made from plastic as well as some structural support frames which hold the puzzle together, plus the little spikes-embellishments for the top.
All pieces are numbered and have some little arrows at the back which indicate the sequence of the puzzle chain. It is an intricate puzzle which is an excellent replica of the Roman masterpiece (as it used to look like, not in its current state of a semi-ruin).



Once my niece sorted the numbers and spread them on the table in tens, she was very quick and efficient.


Once all the puzzle pieces were attached to each other, we carefully put it on a narrow base frame to hold it, and then inserted a basin of the theatre inside. Then it was the turn of the finishing touches, like the spikes-columns at the top.


The attention to detail is extraordinary.


The suggested age for assembling this puzzle is 10-99, and my niece is 12.



We have now placed it on the book shelf, and I keep admiring it. This is the second Ravensburger 3d puzzle which we assembled, and they are a real pleasure to play with. These beautiful puzzles will make an excellent gift for any puzzle lover.



If you enjoyed reading this review, you might  be interested in reading a review of the other puzzles from Ravensburger:
Taj Mahal 3d Puzzle
and also see how Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews built an even more challenging Empire State Building puzzle.


Disclosure: I received the puzzle for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

4 comments:

  1. This looks fab and perfect on the shelf. I always wanted to try a 3D puzzle

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    1. It is gorgeous, and looks fab on our book shelf.

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  2. Can you make one of how it stands today? I saw it last December and I would love to do a 3 d puzzle of how it looked when I saw it.

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    1. Hi Laura! I haven't seen any that would look like the ruins version, only as a flat puzzle not a 3d puzzle.

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