Australia-based architect and certified LEGO builder Ryan McNaught has built the world’s first model of Rome’s famous Colosseum using LEGO.

Made with 200,000 LEGO Bricks, the model measures 1m high, 1.3m wide and 1.8m long—presented the Colosseum in cross-section, with half of it showcasing the building’s present ruined form, while the other half showcasing the original Colosseum when it was completed in 80AD.

Half of the model is installed with a tiny LEGO bus with tourists; while the other half of the model is installed with LEGO gladiators, legionaries, senators, an emperor and a mob in togas.

The LEGO Colosseum also features dungeons full of prisoners, gladiators and exotic animals and corridors with tiny wooden torches, below the main stadium.

The Colosseum is “the most technically challenging thing I’ve ever built,” McNaught told The Sydney Morning Herald. “I’ve really got a new appreciation for the Romans and how they made things. For me, the challenge of making something oval-shaped out of square bricks was mind-boggling.”

The LEGO Colosseum was built for the Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney, and will be on display untill January 2013.
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