What did Pope Sixtus V propose to turn the Colosseum into?

Pope Sixtus V proposed turning the Colosseum into a wool factory.

The plan emerged during Sixtus's pontificate from 1585 to 1590, when Church officials were searching for practical uses for Rome's ancient monuments. The proposal was unusually industrial: the Colosseum would house wool production and provide employment for women formerly working as prostitutes in Rome.

The project fitted Sixtus's energetic programme of urban reform. He opened roads, restored aqueducts, erected obelisks and reshaped major parts of Rome, often treating ancient structures as resources for a renewed Christian capital. The Colosseum, however, was already badly damaged and partly stripped for building materials.

The wool-factory scheme never became reality because the pope died before it could be completed. The amphitheatre later attracted other proposals and uses, including a short-lived plan for bullfights in 1671. Its modern identity as an archaeological monument developed much later, after centuries as a quarry, fortress, workshop area and religious site.