IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card # 126
Describe an interesting historic place.
You should say:
- what it is
- where it is located
- what you can see there now
and explain why this place is interesting.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer:
Many historic places in the world have impressed me and captivated my imagination, because of their fascinating architectural and historical values. But, none of them really have impressed me as much as the Colosseum in Italy. So, this is indeed an interesting topic, and I would be more than happy talk about this historical place in as much articulated manner as possible.
Anyway, as I have already mentioned, this historical place is called “Colosseum” which is located in the centre of the city of Rome. Built in around 72 AD, this “Amphitheatre” (an open-air venue used for entertainments, sports, and other cultural arts/performances) is made of a rare form of limestone, volcanic rock and brick-faced concrete. Many historians suggest that it was the largest amphitheatre ever built at that time and was able to hold over 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at a time. What a gigantic building structure!
Although substantially ruined, because of earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is still an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and is listed as one of the “New 7 Wonders” of the World. In fact, it is not only one of Italy’s most popular tourist attractions but also one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world that receives well over 7 million tourists per year.
But, anyway, even though, this place carries so much history with it, today, it is nothing but a relic of a by-gone era where one can still see where the gladiators fought and the lions where kept. Of course, today one can also enjoy the panoramic view from the top tier of this gigantic structure which is as big as about 24000 square metres!
Anyway, this place is interesting, mostly because it has so much history of power, brutality and genius, both tragic and gratifying, which shaped up the Roman Empire before 2000 years. This historical place is interesting also because of its huge structure that could hold about 80000 spectators at one time. In fact, standing at 160 feet tall, it is the tallest ancient Roman structure to ever be built.