Verona Amphitheatre, Verona, Italy

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

User Reviews

Adriana Perez (20 months ago)
Arena di Verona is a predecessor to the Roman Colosseum so it is quite an interesting display of architecture. It can easily be deemed as smaller scale Colosseum with a little less charm and a lot less hype. The place was desolate since I visited during the winter, but it was clean and very appealing. Nice views from the upper decks and definitely a great building with lots of history.

Marija K (20 months ago)
Place to see. It’s location in an old city is impressive as a whole. It should be amazing in spring or sunny day or with an event taking place there. You barely expect something like this behind the city walls.

Roxy Miskiewicz (20 months ago)
I loved this arena. It was nice to be able to walk all the way around it. February is the perfect time of year to visit Verona as it was so much quieter. I would 100% come back here to watch an opera in the future

Rui Carvalho (20 months ago)
Beautiful Roman times Arena. Most famous for its open air operas in the summer. Me and my wife were lucky enough to go there at sunset while at same time a hot air balloon was taking people for a short ride up just outside the arena on the plaza. We got some beautiful pics of it all - magical. The toilets though are not well taken care of, and could have a redo completely. Also the inner parts of the arena could be a bit more well taken care of. Still, a magical place.

Lars Jensen (20 months ago)
It is a stunningly beautiful structure. Take a walk around the arena and carefully watch how the ancient building was made, using cleaver features, that you aslo see in the modern stadiums today. It is fascinating to observe and image how the arena was built. It is fairly cheap to enter the arena, but for some it can be a dull experience, because of the arena being partly closed off due to the concerts taking place in the arena. If you have time. Try walk by the arena during the evening where the lights have come on.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Dan Lundberg

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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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