Rome opens long-awaited Colosseum subway station, with displays of unearthed artifacts

ROME (AP) — Rome opened two subway stations on Tuesday — one deep beneath the Colosseum — that mix the modernity of high-tech transport with artifacts from an ancient era.

Commuters and tourists entering the station beside the iconic amphitheater can view displays of ceramic vases and plates, stone wells and suspended buckets, as well as the ruins of a cold plunge pool and thermal bath from a first-century dwelling. Screens show the excavation process — serving both to delight archaeology enthusiasts, and justify why it has taken so long to open the station.

The multibillion-euro Metro C subway line has been in the works for two decades but has been slowed by bureaucratic and funding delays and, crucially, the archaeological excavations necessary, given the underground ruins of imperial Roman and medieval civilizations in its way.

“The challenge was ... building it under such a large amount of groundwater and at the same time preserving all the archaeological finds that we found during the excavation, and all this while preserving everything that is above,” said Marco Cervone, construction manager for the consortium building the subway line, led by Webuild.

The total cost of the line’s 31 stations — three-quarters of which are now operational — will reach around 7 billion euros ($8.3 billion) and be completed by 2035, according to the press office of the city-owned company that has contracted the works.

Rome was inaugurating another station on Tuesday, Porta Metronia, located one stop away from the one beside the Colosseum and likewise at a depth of 30 meters (around 100 feet).

It features a nearly 80-meter (260-foot) military barracks dating to the start of the second century, found at a depth between 7 and 12 meters (22 and 39 feet), according to Simona Moretta, the scientific director of the excavation.

“Surety that it was a military building is given by the fact that the entrances to the rooms are not facing each other, but are offset, so that the soldiers could leave the rooms and get in line without colliding in the corridor,” the archaeologist told reporters.

Soldiers would either have been part of the emperor's guard or stationed there for city security, she added.

There's also a home with well-preserved frescoes and mosaics. A museum within the station will be opened in the future, Moretta said.

Digging near the center of Rome means coming in the contact with three millennia of civilizations built atop one another. So far, the consortium building Line C has found more than 500,000 artifacts, according to WeBuild.

In order to work in the delicate archaeological area, the company has employed techniques including freezing the ground to stabilize soil, as well as so-called sacrificial diaphragms — concrete walls built perpendicular to perimeter walls that are demolished as excavation advances.

As the subway line continues onward past the Colosseum, it will run underneath more of the world’s most important cultural heritage sites — Trajan’s Column and the Basilica of Maxentius, the largest building in the Roman Forum — as well as some of Rome’s prized Renaissance palaces, churches and the Vatican.

The next stop along the line is Piazza Venezia, the veritable heart of Rome's center. Subway cars will arrive at a depth of 48 meters (157 feet) when it opens in 2033, Cervone said.

Once completed, Line C will run a total of 29 kilometers (18 miles), of which 20 kilometers (12 miles) will be underground, and carry up to 800,000 passengers daily.

Tourists planning to visit the Colosseum and other sites in Rome’s historic center will be able to bypass the eternal city’s notoriously snarled surface traffic — made even worse in recent years by the construction projects themselves.

Paolo Santalucia contributed to this report.

Ancient Roman finds backing to the 2nd century BC are on display in the 'Colosseo' new subway station, designed as a museum to showcase the archaeological finds uncovered during its construction, in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

People walk in the hall of the 'Colosseo' new subway station in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Ancient Roman finds backing to the 2nd century BC are on display in the 'Colosseo' new subway station, designed as a museum to showcase the archaeological finds uncovered during its construction, in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Ancient Roman finds backing to the 2nd century BC are on display in the 'Colosseo' new subway station, designed as a museum to showcase the archaeological finds uncovered during its construction, in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A view of the remains of Roman barracks built around the 2nd century AD under the emperor Trajan, visible in the Porta Metronia new subway station designed as a museum to showcase the archaeological finds uncovered during its construction, in Rome, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near their records Wednesday as oil prices fall and ease the pressure on households and businesses worldwide.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% below its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:56 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices will remove a big drag on their profits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings climbed 5.7%, and United Airlines rallied 7.3%. Delta Air Lines rose 3.7% and is on track to set an all-time high.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.1% to $95.48 after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold despite the U.S. military launching what it called “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell even more, 4.2%, to $89.69 on hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf for deliveries again.

Stocks have been able to run to records despite the painful inflation and uncertainty caused by high oil prices largely because companies have reported surprisingly strong profits for the start of 2026, and the forecast is for them to continue.

Bath & Body Works rallied 11.2%, and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed 11.8% after both reported bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That's even as U.S. consumers continue to say they're feeling discouraged about the economy and inflation.

Lululemon Athletica rose 3.6% after reaching a deal with its founder, Chip Wilson, where it will add a former chief marketing officer of ESPN and a former co-CEO of On to its board of directors.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Dick's Sporting Goods, which dropped 4.9% despite delivering a profit for the latest quarter that edged past expectations. Analysts pointed to how much profit it wrung out of each $1 in revenue, which some called a bit weak.

Oil-and-gas stocks also sank, hurt by the dropping prices for crude. Exxon Mobil fell 1.4%, and Chevron slipped 0.8%. Halliburton dropped 3% to bring its gain for the year so far back toward 40%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after falling oil prices took pressure off inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.48% from 4.50% late Tuesday and from 4.67% roughly a week ago.

It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. South Korea's Kospi was one of the world's best performers and jumped 2.3% after SK Hynix, which is a big beneficiary of the artificial-intelligence boom, soared 9.3%.

A day before, Micron Technology surged to become the latest Big Tech company to be worth more than $1 trillion on AI excitement. Its stock has more than tripled already in 2026, and analysts at UBS said Tuesday it could soar even more because of how fundamentally AI has improved demand for computer memory.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Trader Edward Curran, left, and specialist Meric Greenbaum, center, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)