After the VI century, with the Empire's decline, the Colosseum fell into disuse and its walls housed confraternities, hospitals, hermits and even a cemetery. From the Middle Ages onwards, the Colosseum has been one of Rome's and the world's greatest marvels, attracting hoards of visitors.
Threatened with demolition by Sixtus V for town-planning reasons, it was declared a sacred monument dedicated to the Passion of Christ by Benedict XIV, placing a cross on a pedestal, as a symbol of the sufferings of all Christian martyrs. This cross is still the starting point for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Since then, it has become an object of worship for Christians and was protected from further destruction and ruin; in fact, Popes after that restored and consolidated it.
For a tourist today, seeing the Colosseum means, as Charles Dickens wrote, "seeing the ghost of old Rome floating over the places its people walk in".