Man taken to hospital in serious condition.

A 47-year-old tourist was seriously injured on Friday when he became impaled on railings around the Colosseum after attempting to scale a fence at the Rome landmark.

The man, a US citizen resident in Taiwan, was rescued by emergency services and taken to nearby San Giovanni hospital in a "code red" condition, according to Rome newspaper Il Messaggero.

The incident took place at around 17.00 on Friday afternoon, in front of dozens of shocked onlookers, as rescuers rushed to the man's aid.

The tourist reportedly lost consciousness during the effort to extract him from the fence, a complex operation that took more than 20 minutes.

Following emergency surgery requiring more than 80 stitches, the man was reportedly declared out of danger on Friday night.

It was not immediately clear why the tourist scaled the railings however Il Messaggero surmised that he may have been seeking "to capture a closer view of the Colosseum, perhaps for an unforgettable selfie."

In 2021, two American tourists were fined €800 for illegally entering the Colosseum at night to drink beer inside the ancient amphitheatre.

Photo credit: nikolpetr / Shutterstock.com.