Verona Amphitheatre

The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre built in 1st century. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind. In ancient times, nearly 30,000 people was the housing capacity of the Arena.

The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The round façade of the building was originally composed of white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the structure's outer ring, except for the so-called 'ala', the stone was quarried for re-use in other buildings. Nevertheless it impressed medieval visitors to the city, one of whom considered it to have been a labyrinth, without ingress or egress.

The first interventions to recover the arena's function as a theatre began during the Renaissance. Some operatic performances were later mounted in the building during the 1850s, owing to its outstanding acoustics. In 1913, operatic performances in the arena commenced in earnest due to the zeal and initiative of the Italian opera tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the impresario Ottone Rovato.

In recent times, the arena has also hosted several concerts of international rock and pop bands.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Via Leone Gaetano Patuzzi 9, Verona, Italy

Details

Founded: c. 30 AD
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Italy