“What is a cat doing here?” I said this to myself as I wandered through the famed Colosseo or Colosseum of Rome. The Colosseum, by the way, is amazing. The collpased wall, the delapitated stone archways, the classical architecture and the art expo in the upstairs museum all emcompass the history of the imperial Romans. So why is there a cat disrepecting the sanctity of the moment? I snapped a picture of this most random cat because at the time I hadn’t heard of the outrageous cat population and I needed proof. The Romans enforce a no kill law so there are plenty little critters running about. Because there are some 300,000 strays in the city, they have to go somewhere.

Largo di Torre Argentina is a square with four Roman temples built around 44 B.C.. The area has several monuments all walking distance apart from the Pantheon to the Spanish Steps and Fontana di Trevi. Near the site where Julius Ceasar was slain, Torre Argentina or the famed “cat monument” is a haven for the fury fat felines. Tourists are known to be more fascinated by the cats then the acutally monuments. I couldn’t imagine why. They’re probably asking the same question that I did. In this sanctuary, the cats just lounge around and get fat off handouts. The cats treat the monument as they’re own little utopia, basking in the Italian sun and sleeping soundly in the shade of the columns.

You still may be wondering why? Why let the cats fester in such a renowned archelogical find. Remember, Rome is crawling in monuments; they only have two metro lines because every time they dig they strike “gold” or at least another set of ruins to cherish. The monument is a cat shelter for activists who raise money from donations to feed the cats. Gattare is the name for the thousands of cat loving women who pick out strays, feed, sterilize and give them away to tourists. The Italian acceptance and respect for their animal population extends to other parts of Italy. In Pompeii traveling with a group of friends, a set of stray dogs bummed food off us and followed us through the ruins of the city. If you’re ever in Italy don’t be concerned about the cats and dogs. They are all apart of the experience and you can even learn more about how to adopt one!

Reference and Further Reading:

About.com: http://goeurope.about.com/cs/rome/a/rome_cats.htm

Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jun/29/travel/tr-journalromecatsjun29

Make a donation for adopt a cat: http://www.italylogue.com/things-to-do/torre-argentina-roman-cat-sanctuary.html

Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largo_di_Torre_Argentina