Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre, Newport, United Kingdom

Built around AD 90 to entertain the legionaries stationed at the fort of Caerleon (Isca), the impressive amphitheatre was the Roman equivalent of today’s multiplex cinema. Wooden benches provided seating for up to 6,000 spectators, who would gather to watch bloodthirsty displays featuring gladiatorial combat and exotic wild animals.

Long after the Romans left, the amphitheatre took on a new life in Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, the somewhat imaginative 12th-century scholar, wrote in his History of the Kings of Britain that Arthur was crowned in Caerleon and that the ruined amphitheatre was actually the remains of King Arthur’s Round Table.

Today it is the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain.

References:

CADW

User Reviews

Martin Nutland (2 months ago)
Love exploring these type of places. Came across this place on a school trip to the roman baths. Definitely worth a visit. Ideal for a picnic, games, dog walking. Highly recommended for a little look round anyway. Thank me later. ?

Benjamin Raisanen (2 months ago)
A lovely piece of history showcasing the beautiful amphitheater built thousands of years ago. Great place for picnic.

Ryan Withey-Julian (3 months ago)
Very big Amphitheatre and is the best preserved in the UK. Shame the grass has been left to cover most of it but maybe that helps preserve what is left. But you can walk all round and inside. Great place for a picnic too.

Zach Emerson (3 months ago)
One of the best preserved if not the best Roman Ampitheatre in the country. It is free to enter and explore the grounds and we had our picnic (weather depending) within from the nearby Village Bakery (highly recommend). There are information signs across the site but more information about the Roman History if Caerleon can be found in the Roman Leigion museum of the Roman Baths. The amphitheatre is definitely worth including on a Roman tour of the town and also the other nearby Roman Barracks.

Josh Longmuir (4 months ago)
Beautiful piece of history in a lovely village. Perfect place for a picnic with space for kids to run and play within the ruins!

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