The visible remains of an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

constructed during Roman London lie beneath Guildhall Yard in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. Some of these remains are displayed ''in situ'' in a room in the basement of the

Guildhall Art Gallery The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...

complex. Discovered in 1988, the site is now a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

London's first

Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres — large, circular or oval open-air venues with tiered seating — built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, ''venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About List of R ...

was built in

AD 70 AD 70 ( LXX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vespasian and Titus (or, less frequently, year 823 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination AD 70 for this year ...

from wood, but was renovated in the early 2nd century with tiled entrances and rag-stone walls. The

was used for various public events such as

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

games, entertaining soldiers and the public with

animal fighting A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities charact ...

and public

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

of criminals, as well as religious activities. After the

ancient Romans The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens (; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...

left in the early 5th century, the amphitheatre lay derelict for hundreds of years. In the 11th century the area was reoccupied and by the 12th century the first

London Guildhall Guildhall is a municipal building in the City of London, England. It is off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The current building dates from the 15th century; however documentary evidence suggests that a ...

was built next to it, which survives despite the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

and

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. Various other buildings were constructed around the site of the amphitheatre, which eventually became the public plaza of Guildhall Yard seen today. The formal entrance to Guildhall Yard included a gatehouse built in the 13th century, sited directly over the southern entrance to the Roman amphitheatre. The church of

St Lawrence Jewry St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to the Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is ...

, on the south side of Guildhall Yard, is built on an irregular alignment which may have been intended to shadow the elliptical form of the amphitheatre. The

, on the northern side of the plaza, was completed in 1999, the basement of which provides access to an excavated section of the Roman-era remains. The perimeter of the amphitheatre is marked at surface level on Guildhall Yard by a band of dark stone.Atlas Obscura - Guildhall's Underground Amphitheatre
/ref>

References

External links

London's Roman Amphitheatre

Guildhall Art Gallery
{{authority control 70s establishments in the Roman Empire 1988 in London Archaeological museums in London Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom London amphitheatre Roman London Scheduled monuments in London

See also

References

External links