The Ivrea Roman Amphitheatre () is a

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 ...

located in

Ivrea Ivrea (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it straddles the Dora Baltea and is ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The amphitheatre of the

Roman colony A Roman (: ) was originally a settlement of Roman citizens, establishing a Roman outpost in federated or conquered territory, for the purpose of securing it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It ...

of Eporedia (modern-day Ivrea) was built in the mid-1st century AD along the road leading to

Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...

. It is believed that it could hold more than ten thousand spectators. To build it, a pre-existing villa had to be partially demolished, with some of its walls incorporated into the structure of the amphitheatre.

Description

The structure has an elliptical plan with a 65-metre major axis, with entrances for spectators at both ends. An underground chamber located in the middle of the arena and connected by an underground corridor to the service areas located beneath the

cavea The ''cavea'' (Latin language, Latin for "enclosure") are the seating sections of Theatre of ancient Greece, Greek and Roman theatre (structure), Roman theatres and Roman amphitheatre, amphitheatres. In Roman theatres, the ''cavea'' is tradition ...

allowed the movement of stage equipment and animals.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline

Buildings and structures in Ivrea